Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected]
Miriam Harris Lewis, chief inclusion officer at Principal Financial Group, discussed how diversity and inclusion improve customer relationships and drive business growth.
Ronnell Nolan, president and CEO of Health Agents for America, discusses recent developments in Washington, how they affect the independent health insurance agent and broker, and what you need to know in order to be compliant.
Christopher Stroup uses his engineering skills to help his clients plan for their unique needs.
As you’re driving west on Pennsylvania Route 56 toward my hometown, one of the first things you see as you approach the edge of town is the huge football stadium on your left…
Getting family members together for a special event takes planning and delegation.
Embracing flexibility is the key to a more productive workforce in the post-pandemic world. That was the word from Stephanie Berger, Centered Insurance Solutions, who shared the lessons her benefits brokerage firm learned after more than a year of remote working. Berger spoke at Monday’s National Association of Health Underwriter virtual annual convention.
Employers are reopening their offices and transitioning their workers back to either an in-person or a hybrid workplace. So what does this mean for human resource teams? David Pearson, senior vice president with ExtensisHR, gave some advice to health insurance and benefits brokers during the National Association of Health Underwriters virtual annual convention.
The Affordable Care Act has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court on three different occasions, and each time the court rules in favor of the law, one expert says, the law is strengthened and more stability is created around the ACA marketplace.
Courage is the strand that ties great leadership together, according to a speaker at Tuesday’s Million Dollar Round Table virtual annual meeting.
Rodger N. Harding, business transition consultant with Canada Life, gave his insights on business intelligence and advisors strategies during Monday’s portion of the Million Dollar Round Table’s virtual annual meeting.
The silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it sparked a greater interest in employee benefits and products such as life insurance.
Expect even more digital acceleration while keeping empathy and a human touch throughout the life insurance purchase process.
Jerald Tillman’s mission to get more African Americans into the industry led to his founding a national organization.
Restrictions are easing and the world is opening up, but it’s still crucial to maintain good physical and mental health practices.
The morning’s mail brought us a manila envelope with no return address. Inside was a copy of the April issue of InsuranceNewsNet Magazine, with the subscriber’s mailing label torn off…
Congress has a number of tax and debt related issues to deal with over the summer and fall, members of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors were told at their virtual Congressional Conference.
Pooled employer plans, plan portability and automatic enrollment in employer retirement plans were cited as three ways to make it easier for Americans to save more money for retirement as the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee held a hearing on “Retirement Security: Building a Better Future.”
The president of Prudential Group Insurance said his company remains committed to helping find a way to provide paid family and medical leave to all U.S. workers.
The U.S. economy is on the brink of a dramatic year of growth as the COVID-19 pandemic fades into the background. But some sectors of the economy are doing better than others, according to Sara Eisen, co-host of CNBC’s “Closing Bell.”
Ebony Ruffin wants to show her clients that life insurance can be about more than its death benefit.
Annuities can provide meaningful accumulation and lifetime income, but research shows consumers often overlook them because they don’t understand the products or how to position them to address income gaps.
More states are studying whether a public option health insurance plan is feasible for them.
How can wealth managers broach the life insurance conversation with their clients? A panel of NAIFA members gave some insights.
Will partisan gridlock always be on the Congressional menu? Or are there some issues on which Democrats and Republicans can work together?
As restrictions ease and face-to-face meetings begin to make a comeback, technology still can remain a vital part of the advisor’s practice.
Congress can take steps to strengthen Americans’ retirement security, but any successful effort will require a bipartisan approach, said the ranking member of the Senate Subcommittee on Social Security, Pensions and Family Policy.
As COVID-19 travel restrictions ease, the future of association events will be a combination of in-person and virtual, said Kenneth E. Bentsen Jr., president and CEO of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.
Among group life claimants, mortality rates were up 14% between January and April 2020, said Steve Rulis, vice president and group actuary with Munich Re, with mortality rates spiking during the months of April, November and December.
Diversity is more than simply bringing more people of color into an organization, Derrik Anderson, executive director of Race Matters, said during this week’s NAIFA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Impact Week.
The life insurance industry has an opportunity to invest in underserved communities while helping remove some of the barriers to those who seek employment in the industry, executives from the American Council of Life Insurers said.
The bottom line in making your company a place where women can succeed and thrive is to ask yourself whether it is a place you would want your mother, your wife or your daughter to work.
Planning for long-term care provides people with choices. And those choices lead to freedom. That philosophy especially rings true in Black and brown households, where family members are more likely to provide care for an aging parent or grandparent. It’s something that Chris Gandy called “the brown tax.”
Several bills establishing government-run health programs already have been introduced in Congress. Would they give consumers more options or would they destabilize the market?
Here’s the dirt on cleaning in an environmentally gentle way.
Shane Westhoelter was in his early 20s, selling life insurance policies with $5,000 and $10,000 death amounts door to door in a small town when he found his “why.”
However, the report does not look at premiums for 2020 and 2021, in which average benchmark plans on the exchange started creeping downward, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported.
This decision to postpone retirement is driven primarily by financial reasons, MetLife said, with respondents citing the top reasons for the delay as a continued need for a monthly income (31%) and that the pandemic has impacted their ability to save (23%).
In addition to providing funding to carry out the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response plans, the American Rescue Plan contains what Manatt Health called “the most significant changes to health care coverage and access policies since the passage of the Affordable Care Act.”
Despite Corporate America’s interest in diversity, equity and inclusion, the workforces, board rooms and C-suites of many financial services companies are not representative of the communities they serve. Members of a conference panel gave their thoughts on how to turn that situation around.
Many in the insurance industry are holding their collective breath as things get back to normal. A major worry is that deferred care will come crashing through the system by this summer, representing a flood of claims once people are willing to see a doctor again.
The employer sponsored insurance system “has been popular and resilient” and is here to stay, a policy think tank expert told attendees at America’s Health Insurance Plans’ virtual National Health Policy Conference on Thursday. But he added that it needs to be improved to ensure preservation.
With Democrats holding a razor thin majority in Congress, and with some Democrats having misgivings on expanding the government’s role in health care, there is not enough support in Congress for a public option or Medicare buy-in, a consultant said during America’s Health Insurance Plans’ virtual National Health Policy Conference.
America’s Health Insurance Plans, along with the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, launched the Vaccine Community Connectors initiative.
Some items in the American Rescue Plan impact health care and have not attracted as much attention as other provisions, such as $1,400 stimulus checks.
A study shows only about one-third of consumers have a formal written retirement plan in place.
A survey by a health care website shows Americans are uncertain about when we will return to post-COVID-19 life and that many are apprehensive about it
COVID-19 forced insurance companies to take a new approach in how they deal with diversity and inclusion in their workforce, a panel said during a NAILBA discussion.
Health insurance agents and brokers played an important role in getting Americans enrolled in coverage, and they will continue to play a role in the federal health insurance marketplace, according to Jeff Grant, acting director of The Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight.
Lauren Crawford Shaver, executive director of the Partnership for America’s Health Care Future, said she believes it is less likely that an expansion of government-run health care will happen this year, given the focus on pandemic relief in Washington.
When it comes to health care, it’s possible that the U.S. can have it all: a system in which universal coverage is affordable in a free market where carriers and brokers compete for business.
Frustration with the current health care system is opening the door for a gradual broadening of our current public programs, NAHU’s CEO said at the association’s virtual Capitol Conference on Monday.
Of the major health care issues in Washington, lowering the cost of prescription drugs is the issue that enjoys the most bipartisan support, at least ideologically, a political consultant said.
The public option “would destabilize current insurance markets by creating an unlevel playing field,” says Chris Hartmann, NAHU vice president of congressional affairs. “This would have the devastating effect of closing hospitals.”
A 130-year-old industry association is looking ahead to the next five years by looking at ways to increase its diversity, foster the growth of the next generation of advisors and raising awareness of financial services as an appealing career among students.
The 2020-21 winter season will be an expensive one for U.S. property/casualty insurers, Moody’s Investors Service said today. The winter…
As of Dec. 27, 2021, federal law will require health insurance agents and brokers to disclose all commissions to current clients as well as prospects.
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, the federal budget act passed by Congress and signed by then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 3, contains a section aimed at commission transparency in health insurance. The law requires health insurance agents and brokers to detail their services as well as their direct and indirect commissions to current and potential clients.
Employer-based coverage will continue to dominate the health insurance landscape in 2021. But the individual health care exchange could gain ground as more workers become freelancers and independent contractors. That was one of 10 trends in health insurance and voluntary benefits discussed during a recent webinar by Aite Group.
Harley Tobon aims to bring professional financial advice to as many people in his Latino community as he can.
It’s a good time of year to plan your vegetable garden.
Research shows an opportunity for advisors to help people of color catch up with their retirement preparedness.
