General

Breast Cancer Prevention

October 5 | 2018
Breast Cancer Prevention

Do you know someone with breast cancer? How about a breast cancer survivor? Perhaps a good friend or loved one who has passed on? Unfortunately, most people can answer yes to one of these questions. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and there is no better time to bring attention to such a serious topic […]

Read More

Final Rule on Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance

September 27 | 2018
By: Karen Hsu
Final Rule on Short-Term, Limited-Duration Insurance

On August 3, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Labor (collectively, the Departments) published a final rule that amends the definition of short-term, limited-duration insurance. HHS also released a fact sheet on the final rule. According to the Departments, the final rule will provide consumers with more affordable […]

Read More

Leveraging Generational Factors for Overall Success

September 27 | 2018
By: Bill Olsen
Senior VP, Operations at United Benefit Advisors
Leveraging Generational Factors for Overall Success

No matter what your office looks like—in a gig economy or a more traditional one, with or without AI—interviews will be a part of the culture. Learning about best practices benefits everyone, whether you are the interviewer or the interviewee. Especially at busy times, it can be easy to forget that an interview isn’t simply […]

Read More

Get Moving…To Live!

September 17 | 2018
By: Bill Olsen
Senior VP, Operations at United Benefit Advisors
Get Moving…To Live!

The phrase: “If I’m lying, I’m dying” should be changed to: “If I’m sitting, I’m dying” even though it doesn’t rhyme. If you haven’t heard by now, sitting for long periods of time increases the chance that you’ll die early, regardless of your race, gender, age, body mass index (BMI), or even if you exercise. […]

Read More

Tools to Support Working Parents

September 4 | 2018
By: Bill Olsen
Senior VP, Operations at United Benefit Advisors
Tools to Support Working Parents

Today, balancing career and family is no longer a women-only issue. Employed parents of all genders say their primary concern is not having enough time for their children.While every family is different, employers can still take an active role in supporting working parents (sometimes, their teenagers too).   Rising trends include onsite childcare, dependent care flexible […]

Read More

6 Reasons Self-Funded Plans Are Gaining Popularity

September 4 | 2018
By: Bill Olsen
Senior VP, Operations at United Benefit Advisors
6 Reasons Self-Funded Plans Are Gaining Popularity

Since the ACA was enacted eight years ago, many employers are re-examining employee benefits in an effort to manage costs, navigate changing regulations, and expand their plan options. Self-funded plans are one way that’s happening. In 2017, the UBA Health Plan survey revealed that self-funded plans have increased by 12.8% in the past year overall, […]

Read More

Solving Problems-While Increasing Employee Satisfaction

August 15 | 2018
By: Bill Olsen
Senior VP, Operations at United Benefit Advisors
Solving Problems-While Increasing Employee Satisfaction

“Design thinking” is a fairly common term. Even if the phrase is new to you, it’s reasonably easy to intuit how it works: design thinking is a process for creative problem solving, utilizing creative tools like empathy and experimentation, often with a strong visual component. The term dates from 1968 and was first used in The […]

Read More

Everyone Wins when Growth is the Goal

July 25 | 2018
By: Bill Olson
VP, Marketing & Communications at United Benefit Advisors
Everyone Wins when Growth is the Goal

It’s a dilemma. On the one hand, today’s buzzing, multifaceted working environments challenge employees more than ever before. On the other, these same working environments are often also overwhelming and stressful. Sometimes it seems like success means mania—but this doesn’t have to be the case. More and more frequently, experts urge offices to focus not […]

Read More

What About Them?

July 16 | 2018
By: Ken Spencer
President & CEO, HR Service, Inc.
What About Them?

The office team arrives at 8:00 AM and is there every day until 5:00 PM. They work hard answering questions for clients, doing invoicing, and other important administrative tasks. The production team often shows up at 10:00 AM or later, takes a long lunch and quite often is seen leaving at 2:00 or 3:00 PM. […]

Read More

Leadership, Now with More Humility

July 5 | 2018
By: Bill Olson
VP, Marketing & Communications at United Benefit Advisors
Leadership, Now with More Humility

More and more, we are learning that scientists, marketers, programmers, and other kinds of knowledge workers lead office lives very similar to famous innovators like Watson, Crick, and Franklin, who discovered the structure of DNA. How so? All of these people live work lives structured around progress in meaningful work. And when this progress occurs, it […]

Read More

Using Your Health Savings Account

June 20 | 2018
By: Vicki Randall
Compliance Specialist at Compliancedashboard, a UBA Certified Solution
Using Your Health Savings Account

According to recent estimates by Fidelity Investments, a couple will incur an estimated $280,000 worth of medical expenses after turning 65 years of age. They estimate this cost every year and when they publish it, I can’t help but have an anxiety spike as I ponder the reality of that number. Even if they are off and […]

Read More

The Hidden Liability in Group LTCi Plans

June 11 | 2018
By: Ryder Kimmes
Vice President - Business Development LTC Solutions, Inc.
The Hidden Liability in Group LTCi Plans

For those of you already offering long term care insurance to your employees, you are ahead of the curve! You are not only adding protection to each of your participating employees’ retirement and savings endeavors, you are affording employees the opportunity to maintain their assets if they should need long term care. As we know, […]

Read More

Can You Handle the Truth?

June 5 | 2018
By: Bill Olson
VP, Marketing & Communications at United Benefit Advisors
Can You Handle the Truth?

Direct feedback culture, according to “Mastering the Art of Negative Feedback,” from Society for Human Resource Management means simultaneously challenging someone while also showing you care. Many employees skew toward caring over candor, and that can lead to dissatisfaction. The feedback employees want can be very different from the feedback delivered. Direct, real time feedback is highly […]

Read More

Perk Up Your Benefits Packages

May 31 | 2018
By: Bill Olson
VP, Marketing & Communications at United Benefit Advisors
Perk Up Your Benefits Packages

What people want in their benefits package is changing. Retirement and health care still rank high but soft perks and voluntary benefits factor into satisfaction more than any other benefits, so says “Employees Increasingly Excited About Soft Perks and Company-Culture Benefits,” in Employee Benefit News. When considering a job offer, these types of benefits are top of […]

Read More

Your Mouth Matters: The Importance of Dental Insurance

May 25 | 2018
Your Mouth Matters: The Importance of Dental Insurance

You probably know the feeling well. Another six months rolls around and then one day you glance down at your upcoming week’s schedule and there it is, your bi-yearly dentist check-up. But don’t panic! The dentist really isn’t as bad as it seems and there are actually some very important reasons to have a dental […]

Read More

Inclusive Workplaces Benefit Everyone

May 23 | 2018
By: Bill Olson
VP, Marketing & Communications at United Benefit Advisors
Inclusive Workplaces Benefit Everyone

While there’s plenty of talk about work/life balance, many employees want to feel human while at work, too. Being able to bring their whole selves, according to “3 Ways to Create a More Human Workplace,” from Workforce, is an essential piece of a welcoming, inclusive workplace environment. Putting employees first as a defined company value means helping […]

Read More

Can’t We Just All Get Along?

May 15 | 2018
President of Fringe Benefit Analysts
Can’t We Just All Get Along?

Are you as disgusted as I am with Congress?  According to a recent nationwide Gallop poll, congressional approval ratings have been hovering at a record low of a whopping 13% -18% since last August.  Put another way, 82% to 87% of respondents disapprove of the job Congress is doing.  How many traffic accidents would there […]

Read More

Your Workplace May Want to Get Moving

May 9 | 2018
Your Workplace May Want to Get Moving

Rearranging workspaces may cause grumbling around the water cooler. The return on employee time and company money invested in reorganizing has long been difficult to prove. But, when Steve Jobs famously centralized bathrooms at Pixar for serendipitous interactions meant to spur innovation, it turns out he really was on to something. In “Why You Should […]

Read More

Why Work? For More than the Money

May 1 | 2018
By: Bill Olson
VP, Marketing & Communications at United Benefit Advisors
Why Work? For More than the Money

Discovering the individualized reasons people work is key to helping employers understand what will motivate employees. According to the article “What People Want from Work: Motivation” on the website The Balance, successful companies need to start with money. Paying employees fair compensation, or ideally more than fair, brings the talent in and reduces the risk […]

Read More

Beware of Tech Overload

April 26 | 2018
By: Bill Olson
VP, Marketing & Communications at United Benefit Advisors
Beware of Tech Overload

Technology has certainly made the workplace faster, smarter and more productive. New apps and systems continuously offer new ways to create, manage and collaborate. However, just as with many good things, workers can get too much of office tech. With each digitization of traditional job and team functions comes a cost in diminishing associated skills. […]

Read More
Blog Categories

Categories