SOPHISTICATED SERVICE & ACQUISITIONS DRIVE BENEFITS GROWTH    In eight years Williams-Manny´s benefits revenues ?rise from 25% to 45% of total revenues The industrial boom of the 1950s turned into the Rust Belt of the 1970s and 1980s. Shuttered manufacturing plants and employee layoffs turned Rockford, Illinois, the state´s second largest city, into a struggling step-sister of Chicago. But today, the Rockford economy is on its way back, says Dan Ross, president of Williams-Manny, Inc., the largest independent agency in Northern Illinois. And with every small to medium-sized employer rebuilding its workforce, the agency is adding to its thriving employee benefits portfolio. Founded in 1896, the agency has been a cornerstone of the region, Ross notes, and its executives have seen the local economy evolve through negative and positive changes. At the same time, the agency itself evolved. “Like many independent agencies, we started as a property/casualty insurance specialist, providing business coverage to industrial companies in our area. But as clients´ need for employee benefits and related services grew, so did we, adding employee benefits expertise and other services,’ he says. Click here for the complete article …

PEOPLE WITH HSAs ARE HAPPY WITH THEM    But those who reject them don´t understand the ?benefits and differences from FSAs Health benefits innovation may be providing new ways to manage employer and employee finances, but the complexities of plan design may be more than plan participants can bear. And the situation may just get worse under health care reform. Agents and brokers and their benefits customers will have to design more effective benefit communications programs to counter growing confusion about increasingly complicated plan designs and federal regulations, industry experts say. For example, health savings accounts (HSAs) may be a cost saver for employers and a tax bargain for employees in high-deductible health plans, but many potential participants don´t really understand the complex rules. And employers haven´t done a great job explaining or promoting the options since they were introduced nearly 10 years ago. HSAs allow participants to accumulate and invest assets in tax-advantaged accounts. The assets can be withdrawn for qualified medical expenses within the plan year or later, even after a participant retires. Click here for the complete article …

ABILITY TO WORK: AN ASSET WORTH PROTECTING    In the shadow of ACA and SSDI turmoil: a disability benefits opportunity It hasn´t been easy for disability sellers to shake off the effects of the financial crisis that began five years ago. (See graph above.) While recent gains in the job market are a hopeful sign for many benefits products, disability included, employment numbers are only one influence on benefits product sales. There´s also the Affordable Care Act, an 800-pound gorilla in the room. “Both brokers and HR executives are trying to figure out what they need to do under the Affordable Care Act,’ says Barry Lundquist, president of the Council for Disability Awareness (CDA). “What are my competitors going to do? What are my options? The regulations aren´t clear yet in many cases, so that´s sucking up a lot of oxygen in the room.’ Thinking optimistically, the layoffs of the past few years may have helped motivate both plan participants and HR executives to consider the value of a steady income, and therefore the need to protect that income against the potentially devastating effects of a disability. Click here for the complete article … Professional Insurance Marketing Association (PIMA)    Survey Reports $60 Billion Affinity Market The Professional Insurance Marketing Association (PIMA) has rolled out results of its latest member survey on the association and affinity program market. The survey is a follow-up to PIMA´s Affinity Marketplace Survey published last year estimating the affinity market at more than 26 million certificates in-force — and growing. “The goal of this ‘deeper dive´ survey is to reveal greater detail on products and quantitative business benchmarking metrics,’ said Sam Fleet, PIMA President. “The insights provided are valuable to any organization that shapes and implements marketing programs in the association and affinity group space.’ This survey, as with the earlier effort, was conducted in conjunction with IBIS Associates, Inc. Key reported findings: Click here for the complete article …  Click here to unsubscribe This message was sent by The Rough Notes Company, Inc., 11690 Technology Drive, Carmel, Indiana, 46032 1-800-428-4384