Producer Connection is Standard Insurance Company's quarterly online newsletter for Employee Benefits producers.
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Producer Connection is Standard Insurance Company's quarterly online newsletter for Employee Benefits producers.
Sign up to receive Producer Connection
what you think of Producer Connection and how we can make it better.
The American workforce is growing more diverse all the time — in terms of income, race, gender, marital status, household size. While this dynamic environment is probably good for the U.S. economy on the whole, it presents a challenge for the employee benefits adviser. Click here for more...
As you wrap up fourth quarter sales, it's easy to forget that come Jan. 1, 2008,most of your clients will actually need to start administering their group disability, life and dental insurance plans. Errors in administration can be costly, in terms of time, money and your relationship with your client. Click here for more...
As an employee benefits adviser, it's important to understand the large-scale demographic and economic forces that are driving premium growth in the industry: employment growth, salary growth and the aging workforce. Click here for more...
The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration has released advance copies of the Form 5500 and guidelines for plan years starting from Jan.1, 2007, to Dec.31, 2007. In the "2007 Instructions for Form 5500," look for the "Changes to Note" section starting on the first page. Also in the instructions, pages 13 and 14 have a helpful table showing the different forms required for different types of plans. Visit www.efast.dol.gov/ for more information. Plan administrators can call the EFAST Helpline at 866.463.3278 for assistance.
The Council for Disability Awareness(CDA) recently added a new section to their website with disability resources for employers. Visit www.disabilitycanhappen.org/employer to get the CDA's Employee Disability Awareness Toolkit, which includes sample employee communications and financial planning and self-assessment tools. You'll also find tips on preventing disability with wellness programs, including the CDA's "1-2-3 Wellness Approach," statistics on disability in the workplace and information on the importance (and cost-effectiveness) of employee assistance programs.
The American Hospital Association (AHA) website is a useful resource for easy-to-use information on big-picture health, welfare, disability and productivity trends.Visit www.aha.org, click on the "Research and Trends" tab at the top of the home page and look for the TrendWatch reports. The AHA puts three or four of these reports a year on the site .Most of the reports are accompanied by a "chartpack" — a PowerPoint slide deck with all the illustrations included in the report available for download. As long as you credit the AHA for providing the information, you can use the slides in presentations to your customers.