Broker blog

No question, the impact of COVID-19 is far-reaching. From the three million plus cases, with nearly one million cases in the U.S., to the loss of 200,000 lives worldwide - it’s like nothing this generation has experienced. 

Beyond the health statistics, since mid-March over 26 million jobless claims have been made in the United States. Millions of additional employees have been furloughed. Employers of all sizes face the moral and financial dilemma of evaluating employee headcounts. As a benefits consultant, how can you help?

It’s time for some good news. We don’t need a fancy lead-in, so let’s just get to it…

The CARES Act clarifies that a $0-visit-fee telehealth service is now valid alongside an HSA-qualified plan.

This has been a much-debated question in recent years, as it had not been previously codified into law or specifically allowed or disallowed by regulators. In fact, it’s one of the most-common questions we get from brokers and employers.

For 10 years, we’ve run freshbenies as a remote workplace. It doesn’t mean we didn’t get together consistently and see each other’s faces. It does mean it’s rare that any of us drove in rush-hour traffic. 

Before last week, most Americans didn’t even know the term “social distancing” and now, thanks to Coronavirus / COVID-19, millions of people are remote work newbies. 

To help, I’m sharing the top 9 trials I’ve had to overcome moving from cubicle to home office…

As news updates about Coronavirus continue, we're all walking through uncertain times together. freshbenies is here to help you, your employer clients, employees and their families. 

Below are ways freshbenies services can help employees and their entire immediate families if they become sick, have questions or feel worried - all from home! Click any of the service names below to view more detail...

What important healthcare changes were part of the discussion at this year’s NAHU Capitol Conference? 

It wasn’t all about “Medicare For All” programs. There are lots of other bills and rulings that will either help or hurt our clients and our free market system. That’s why I joined 700 or so NAHU colleagues in Washington D.C. last week. As a group, we met with virtually every congressperson’s office. 

Curious what our consistent advice was? Here are our top 5 requests for 2020 health reforms…

Did you catch our recent webinar outlining 3 ways to skillfully approach prickly #MedicareForAll conversations? If you missed it, click here to access the recording and other resources.

Many thoughtful questions were posed from participants during that session. Today I’m sharing six of those questions along with my answers…

It’s election year and single-payer healthcare chatter is already filling the airways. There is quite a bit of antagonistic rhetoric out there, so how can you join the conversation to skillfully represent our industry?

I’m sharing 4 resources to prepare you for productive discussions that help Americans understand the pros and cons of a government-run plan AND focus on options to help your clients today…

What should you expect from the healthcare and employee benefits industries in 2020?

I’ve read multiple articles summarizing the decade we just closed. Can you believe we’re almost to the 10-year anniversary of ACA? After combining all the reading with the 20 conferences I attended last year, and hundreds of broker conversations – this gives me a pretty good idea about what to expect in the coming year.