Much has been written about how health care reform will impact the benefits business—and many times this has been focused on the negatives. We see predictions about loss of commissions from health insurance, employers dropping benefits entirely, and employees buying everything through the exchanges. But there are opportunities in all of this. In fact, we always say that “chaos” is actually good for our business. We think it can be good for you, too.

Let's first look at some research where we asked employers about their plans related to the employer mandate and exchanges. About 30-35 percent of employers in our study said they are likely to use exchanges for at least some benefits. But a significant percentage of employers either don't plan to use the exchanges or, more importantly for benefits professionals, still don't know what they are planning to do.

The good news is that a significant percentage of employers still don't know their plans. PPACA has created an environment where you—as a benefits professional—are even more important to your clients. But you need to be more prepared than ever. For example, you have to be up-to-date on the employer options for “pay or play.” Employers are facing tough choices with PPACA shared-responsibility guidelines and new IRS proposed regulations that will affect pay or play benefits strategy. The implications can be significant given the cost associated with PPACA extending employer-sponsored coverage to workers who have previously not been benefit eligible in some industry segments.