Having great technology is only half the story in benefits. Ease of purchase, superior terms and conditions, customer research, focused marketing, engagement with and motivation of distributors, provision of employee communications, as well as technology, all are needed.

When I agreed to write an article on the current state of employee benefits for Global Benefits Vision, it was suggested that I address issues that were worrying our clients. And I kept coming back to the same answer: there just aren’t any!

Now in its 46th edition, the IBIS Academy was held in May 2016 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. A hundred and fifty participants from Europe, the Americas and Asia took part in one of the three IBIS tracks. A new Mobility track aimed at global mobility specialists was added for the first time to the two traditional sessions, the IBIS Conference and the five-day training course, IBIS Institute.

The average cost of care for a typical American family of four covered by an average employer-sponsored PPO has more than tripled from an average of $8,414 for a family of four in 2001, to the current average of $25,826 according to a report by the Milliman Medical Index. While the percentage increase of 4.7% is the smallest yearly increase yet, it is still well above the increase in