Autumn. That time of year when thoughts turn sullen at the endof summer, hopeful (or stressed) at the approaching holidays andfrantic at the start of another enrollment season.

For us at Benefits Selling, it's also that time of yearwhen our readers tell us who they love. Or love working with. Or atleast don't hate working with.

As longtime readers will no doubt notice, Aflac and ColonialLife have been locked in a fierce, but friendly, battle forReaders' Choice supremacy since day one. It's been the Cold War ofemployee benefits. This year is no different, with the two carriertitans running away with nearly half of this year's awards.

And who am I to take down the Berlin Wall?

Which carrier is best prepared for PPACA?

Colonial Life

By a two-to-one margin this year, Colonial Life wins this crownagain. In fact, the numbers are almost identical to last year's.Colonial Life is in a strong position as we head into deeper PPACAwaters.

Aflac

After prying Anthem from the runner-up spot last year, Aflacgets comfortable in the No. 2 spot. Readers love this carrier'sbroker service, their progressive approach to technology and theireasy enrollment options.

Which third–party administrator offers the mostcomprehensive service?

AmeriFlex

Juggernaut AmeriFlex wins again. (Maybe we should stop writingabout this until somebody else does. Now, that would be news.) Thisthird-party administrator remains the gold standard of third-partyadministration.

TASC

Which means, of course, that TASC (or, more formally, TotalAdministrative Services Corp.) takes the No. 2 spot again. Butthey're hardly a bridesmaid, building a strong, and apparentlyfaithful, alternative broker segment. Think of them as the Samsungto AmeriFlex's Apple. Or maybe it's the other way around? Eitherway, both TPAs remain light years ahead of anyone in thebusiness.

Which carrier is best prepared for a definedcontribution future?

Colonial Life

Again, by a two-to-one margin, Colonial Life emerges as acarrier committed to not just consumer-driven health care, but anentirely new (although some might say old) way of funding healthcare.

Aflac

To no one's surprise, Aflac sits at No. 2 here, as well. Thesetwo carriers clearly lead the way when it comes to innovation inthe health care (and voluntary) space.

A postscript: This category featured the greatest number oflesser-known players than any other category in this year's awards.It also stirred up the most confusion with more than a few ballotsasking what “defined contribution” meant in this context.Interesting…

Which enrollment company could you NOT livewithout?

Brian Patten and Associates

Last year, Brian Patten and Associates sat nestled in therunner-up slot. This year, they kept their eyes on the prize andhave taken the crown. But not only has the Pittsburgh-basedenrollment taken over here, but they've shot so far ahead thatUnivers—their longtime rival—couldn't even muster runner-up honorsbecause….

Aflac and Colonial Life

The two carrier giants—despite (ahem) not being enrollmentcompanies at all—earn a shared second-place by virtue of sheerbroker enthusiasm. They garnered such an amount of votes, and sofar ahead of their nearest competition, that we had no choice butto acknowledge their efforts. Maybe they represent a world where wewon't even need enrollment companies someday. And maybe BrianPatten shouldn't get too comfortable.

Which carrier offers the best visioncoverage?

VSP

What Ameriflex is to the third-party administrator space, VSP isto vision. This carrier not only dominates this niche, theypractically define it. And it's to their credit that they're notsimply a vendor shelling rarely used products. And they'recertainly not content to rest on their laurels—this is a companymany expect to make a big splash in the burgeoning wellness space.Stay tuned…

Ameritas

Ameritas wrested the runner-up vision spot from Aflac this year.With apologies to the duck, it's refreshing to see brokers arewilling to embrace other options and different partners. Who sayswe're mired in the status quo? (For the record, it was pretty damnclose.)

Which technology vendor makes your life theeasiest?

In years past, this would be another Aflac-Colonial Lifeslugfest, reinforcing the conviction that these two heavyweightslead the way when it comes to technology. That being said, thisyear we wanted to spread the love—and the ink—by limiting thisquestion to specific tech companies, whether they're adminsolutions, enrollers, or any other kind of software vendor. Therewere no clear runaways, although the two honorees technicallynabbed the most votes, each making their Readers' Choice debut.

Selerix

This Dallas-area software provider took top honors, so it lookslike they're in a good position for future growth.

BenefitsConnect

Sacramento-based BenefitsConnect has been buzzing around for afew years now. And this honor suggests Troy Underwood'sgroundbreaking tech outfit is about to go big. Keep an eye on thiscompany.

Honorable mention:

Apple

What can I tell you that you don't already know about theCupertino, California, tech titan? (Except for maybe just how coolthe 6 is?) Or that maybe I'm not the only one who expects Apple todo with health care—specifically on the consumer-driven side—whatit did to the music business? Or the cell phone market? Talk aboutdisruption.

Which carrier offers the best dentalcoverage?

Delta Dental

What do you expect? It's in the company's title. It's DeltaDental, not Delta Disability. And, as always, brokers love Deltafor its especially exhaustive research and customer service.

Guardian

Another top carrier takes runner-up honors in the dentalcategory this year. Guardian, who's been strangely absent from thelineup over the last couple of years, returns with a vengeance totake the runner-up spot in the dental category.

Honorable mention honors here go to Ameritas, which has beenclinging fiercely to the No. 3 spot for a little while now.

Which carrier is the easiest to workwith?

Aflac

Aflac, again. But this is no surprise. This carrier has beenreaching out to brokers for a few years now as part of a sustained,long-term initiative to bridge a gap that seemed almostunsurmountable as early as a decade ago. Ranging far beyond lipservice, Aflac has undergone nothing short of a culture shift, andmoving into the top spot this year shows that it's sticking.

Anthem

Anthem's lone appearance this year might have something to dowith a more aggressive market strategy this year, including boththeir exchange activity and their innovative approach totelemedicine, which shows this carrier is thinking about the longgame.