It is hard to believe the Affordable Care Act was enacted over four years ago. Many significant changes took effect in 2014 such as health plan design changes and increased wellness program incentives. Now that 2015 has arrived, additional reforms will be seen by employers sponsoring group health plans. The most significant reform impacting employers is the shared responsibility penalty known as “Play or Pay” rule and related reporting requirements for applicable larger employers. Employers should start preparing their strategy for addressing these compliance changes, including ensuring the 2014 reforms are being kept updated.

Small Business Insurance Options and Benefits For those of you who haven’t heard, partially self-funded plans are the next big thing in small business insurance options. But how do you know if it’s right for your company? And if you decide it’s a good solution, what is your next step?

Here at Helios, I get numerous phone calls and emails each week from clients and coworkers with questions about their benefits plans. I receive questions from “Is my health insurance and HMO, PPO, or POS?” to “My employee worked a reduced schedule this month; do I have to take away their benefits?” and even as broad as “Is the recent health care legislation going to affect my organization?”. It appears as though people are increasingly confused and wary of making the wrong choice given the complications of the Affordable Care Act and the complexity of offering multiple benefit plans.

When clients first come to me, I often hear these senior leaders talk about the lack of sleep at night. More often than not, they describe being fearful of what they don’t know when it comes to Human Resources compliance or an employee relations issue they fear may lead to a lawsuit. While we certainly alleviate their concerns by getting their HR department into shape, what I actually get excited to hear more is when a leader is worried about not doing enough to attract and retain top talent. They want to learn how to engage employees and develop them beyond the skills they have today to make a bigger impact.

With the dawn of health care reform and the increased focus on regulation and cost control, it has never been more important for employers to have a good insurance broker to help navigate the logistics and best practices surrounding benefits administration. But, not all brokers are created equal.

Innovative benefits can strengthen employee engagement at your company by showing employees their organization cares about them as a person and not just as a number. Work-life benefits take into account an employee’s life inside and outside of work and are also a great way to attract potential employees. One of the best ways to gain the interest of potential job candidates is to offer flexibility at work and advertise your organization’s innovative and competitive benefits.