Ask And You Shall Receive: Introducing EBN’s New Columnists

Copyright 2009 SourceMedia, Inc.All Rights Reserved Employee Benefit News

May 2009

EDITOR'S DESK; Pg. 9 Vol. 23 No. 6

668 words

Ask and you shall receive: Introducing EBN's new columnists

Kelley M. Butler

When I issued a call in January for folks interested in writing for EBN and BenefitNews.com as featured columnists, I never anticipated such a strong response.

I received dozens of e-mails from benefits professionals, authors, consultants and service providers - all willing to share with our audience their perspectives on today's most pressing benefits issues. It's proof-positive of the verse, "Ask and you shall receive."

To all who responded, I'd like to sincerely thank you for your expertise and enthusiasm. With only so many slots available, it was difficult to narrow the field, but I'm confident we have a strong team of industry experts whose unique experiences will both complement and challenge one another - and most importantly, provoke your thoughts as you consider the benefits decisions that will affect your workers and company's bottom line.

It's my pleasure to introduce EBN's new Contributing Editors:

* Nancy L. Bolton is the director of risk management for the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners in West Palm Beach, Fla. Having worked as a risk manager in the local government sector for nearly a decade, she is responsible for the purchase and management of health insurance, among other traditional risk management duties. You'll find Bolton's debut column on real-world wellness solutions on page 18.

* Jill Hudgins is the manager of benefit communications for The Home Depot. She has held that position since summer 2005, and has been with The Home Depot for nearly 12 years. Hudgins' writes this month on communicating health improvement to diverse employee populations, found on page 22.

* Jerry Kalish is the founder of The Retirement Plan Blog and president of National Benefit Services, Inc., a Chicago-based employee benefit consulting and administrative firm. Kalish has more than 30 years of experience with benefits programs, and is currently at work on his third book, the subject of which is retirement plans for the 21st century. Read his debut on page 51 about the alphabet soup of auto-enrollment.

* Betty Long is a registered nurse who in 2003 founded Guardian Nurses Healthcare Advocates, a health care advocacy firm that has helped thousands of patients navigate the health care system. She takes on the difficult topic of hospice this month, on page 24.

* Mark Nadler, PhD., is an economist and professor at the Dauch College of Business and Economics at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio. His firm, The Financial Education Company, is heavily engaged in employee financial education and financial stress. He addresses the latter on page 54.

* Michael Puck, SPHR, is the director of human resources at BAE Systems Ordnance Systems Inc., an ammunition and explosives manufacturer based in Kingsport, Tenn. He is the author of "Health Care Cost Management - The High Road," and is a speaker at national and state conferences on the topic of health care cost-containment. On page 46, he also takes on the thorny issue of succeeding with wellness programs.

Continuing to offer their unique insights to EBN's Editor's Desk and Laws & Regs pages are Contributing Editors Karrie Andes and Frank Palmieri, respectively.

Andes, SPHR, is the director of human resources for Deffenbaugh Industries, Inc. and Affiliates in Kansas City, Kan. She also is the creator and chairperson for The Savvy Self-Funding Healthcare Conference and Expo.

Palmieri is an employee benefits attorney with Palmieri & Eisenberg in Princeton, N.J., and Alexandria, Va., and a fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel.

Download an extended "Five Minutes With ..." podcast with all of our columnists, who answer the question: "What is the most important challenge currently facing benefits professionals and how can they best meet that challenge?" The audio is available at ebn.benefitnews.com/podcasts.

I look forward to your feedback about the newest members of the EBN family.

Send letters, queries and story ideas to Editor-in-Chief Kelley Butler at [email protected]

http://www.ebn.benefitnews.com/

May 1, 2009