Health Care Reform

In June, giant consulting firm McKinsey & Co. released a report declaring 30 percent of employers are likely to drop their health coverage in 2014 as a result of health care reform.

About 5 percent of the population is responsible for almost half of all health care spending in the United States and for rising premium rates, according to a new report from the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation.

What these analysts ignore, however, are other factors that would significantly increase the true costs of terminating coverage. For instance, an employer would have to increase wages to make up for revoking coverage or risk losing some of its most valuable employees. The tax consequences of this wage increase and...

A number theorist might not even understand all the figures being thrown out from every consulting firm these days. Depending on whos telling you, health reform will be responsible for employers dropping health coverage in record numbers, thus forcing employees to leave their cushy plans; it will be responsible for...

As the competitive landscape for benefits brokers gets tougher, effectively communicating benefits strategies with clientsand helping them better communicate those strategies with their employees becomes even more critical.

Between the latest commission regulations and uncertain employer attitudes, brokers are looking at a new health insurance landscape, and many are wondering if there's still a place for them in the market.