The Benefits Selling/Eastbridge Voluntary survey was conducted again this year, and more than 325 brokers — a combination of employee benefit brokers, traditional voluntary brokers, enrollment companies, etc. — responded. While the participant diversity masks some of the trends that differentiate broker segments, this cross-section gives us a clearer picture of what's happening in the overall marketplace, especially when compared next to last year's data.

Brokers are coming to a consensus on many issues. They're very likely to be selling voluntary and appear to be increasing their focus on the line. They believe PPACA is a driver of their increased voluntary sales and that those sales will grow faster in the future than their non-voluntary sales. It would appear the debates about the direction of voluntary sales and their relationship to PPACA-mandated changes are over.

While these changes were predicted, others might be surprising. Despite the aggressive promotion of private exchanges and defined contribution strategies, readers are only occasionally recommending them and, when they do, they're seldom successful in selling these strategies. While adoption might be just a matter of time, that time is not now.