APRIL 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Editor Column: Kate Kinkade


Selling Individual Disability Insurance With The Proper Contractual Wording And Options
by Art Fries
Comparing with what you now about disability selling to what you thought you knew in past years can be a wake-up call.

Identifying the Mysteries of PPOs: Part II of Our Annual Survey
A Fearless Look Inside the Workings of the State’s Best Plans
The second of two parts of the annual PPO survey gives vital information to brokers.

Don’t Let the New Regulations Snake Bite Your Clients
The COBRA Subsidy: Big Changes, Big Dollars
by Michael Close
You can strengthen your relationship with your clients and solidify your position as a trusted advisor by helping your clients understand the changes to COBRA and find a solution that allows them to reduce their costs while concentrating on what they do best.

COBRA News
Read how recent changes in the COBRA law will affect the way employers manage payroll and COBRA benefits as well as the latest trends in the COBRA market

29 Medical Tourism as a solution to Rising Healthcare Costs
by Jonathan Edelheit
California is one of the centerpieces for medical tourism, and many foreign patients come to Los Angeles to receive medical care at Los Angeles Hospitals.

Conference Highlights: Why Vision Plans are More Relevant Than Ever
by Leila Morris
For the second year the Annual Transitions Academy featured a full-day managed care vision care track. The event, sponsored by Transitions Optical, drew more than 100 vision plan providers and brokers in January to the Disney resort in Orlando.

Survive & Thrive: Opportunities for Brokers in a Challenging Healthcare Market
by Paul Markovich
Revise your thinking and your business plan, update your training in emerging products, and embrace the challenges and opportunities presented by this brave new world of evolving health products and services.

Financial Planning
401(k)s: The Retirement Income Opportunity
by John L. Carter
As life expectancies continue to rise, many people are likely to spend as many years in retirement as they did in the workplace. So now investment professionals are faced with the difficult challenge of helping workers ensure that their retirement savings will last for 20 or even 30 years.

View From the Top
The Life Settlement Market Begins to Pick Up
by Leila Morris
The pulse of the life settlement industry and its future from executives on the font lines.