For many the news that the Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act might have been hard to swallow.

“The employee benefits world is once again in turmoil,” says Donna Joseph, CEO of Rhodes-Joseph & Tobiason Advisors. “While the Supreme Court has ruled, the political future of health care reform remains at issue.”

Joseph and colleague Pete Tobiason offer tips on what a broker should do now in response to the decision.

“Looking strategically beyond the short term excitement of the ruling will distinguish your response,” she says.

1) Develop answers to your employees’ (or your client’s employees’) questions.

2) Examine the financial consequences—both for the company and the employees.

3) Focus on the reasons we have employee benefits—to meet the life needs of employees in ways that attract and retain the best and most productive talent.

4) Understand how your vendors and their products and services might be impacted.

5) Consider today’s innovative voluntary benefits, which are increasingly being recognized as key components of total compensation and rewards.

6) Identify actions needed for this year’s open enrollment, even as you guide benefits program development for 2014 and beyond.

Instant Insights /

What a broker can do now about health reform

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