It's almost 2015—which also means it's time to speculate aboutwhat might happen in the benefits industry in the new year. Weasked some experts to give us a few predictions come January.Here's what they said.

Political battle.

"I think the second round of open enrollment for PPACA will gomore smoothly, and we'll see millions more sign up for healthinsurance. With this issue waning, you'll see Republicans trying tofind something else to pin on Obama as they jockey for position asthe 2016 presidential nominee. Thus, with all the posturing thatwill be going on, very little — if any — meaningful legislationwill be passed. It will be all politics all the time."

—Carroll Fadal, distribution officer, American FidelityDistribution Arms, Texas Life; Waco, Texas

Moving forward.

"PPACA will go forward and the 100 and under market willcontinue to decline as more and more employers send their employeesto the state and federal exchanges. The large national brokers willcontinue to grow and will slow down acquisitions as small groupbrokers that have failed to diversify their block with worksite andvoluntary will lose more income making it harder for them tosurvive. Conversation will open again and go nowhere againregarding the federal government taking over regulation of theinsurance industry. Enrollment companies will continue to grow asthey take on more of the benefit enrollment and administrationburden from HRs of over 1,000-person companies. Platforms will makemajor improvements as all models will need to be "plug and play"and employ decision making tools."

—Jim Christenson, field vice president at Allstate Benefits;Philadelphia

Survival game.

"Advisors will see the small group market fade away as moresmall businesses abandon group-sponsored health insurance and sendemployees to the public exchanges. Instead, they will either selltheir practices, merge with larger organizations or focus thenecessary resources on developing tools, strategies and expertisein the mid-sized to large markets. Those who choose to innovate andadapt will survive—at least for another five years or so."

—Aaron Davis, president of NextLogical Benefit Strategies;Benefits Selling's 2013 Broker of the Year; Westminster,Maryland

Consumerism growth.

"Everyone will have a high-deductible plan/HSA/HRA or some typeof plan that forces the employee into consumerism. Worksite orvoluntary plans like accident/critical illness/gap plans willbecome more prevalent. I also expect more brokerage consolidation,and think most brokers will have in-house compliancemanagers/attorneys."

—Jani De La Rosa, senior vice president, Heffernan InsuranceBrokers; San Francisco