Agent's Sales Journal Announces Results of 2011 Employee Benefits Market Study

CENTENNIAL, Colo., Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Agent's Sales Journal and Agent Media Data, products of Summit Business Media's Life and Health Insurance Network, announced the results of the 2011 Employee Benefits Market Study in the August issue of Agent's Sales Journal. This year's study is a result of a collaborative effort between Agent's Sales Journal, Agent Media, and International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP).  

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"It's clear that the reality of the impact of health care reform is beginning to sink in with both agents and the clients they serve, and they see a challenging future ahead," said Andy Stonehouse, editor of Agent's Sales Journal. "At the same time, they remain optimistic that sales opportunities abound as all of this dynamic change occurs."

Highlights of the 2011 Employee Benefits Market Study include:

• Group benefits and voluntary sales are up over last year, 43% saw increases in group benefits and 53% saw an increase in voluntary sales. Agents selling in both categories expect to see better sales in 2011.
• Agents are more wary of the long-term impact of federal health care reform than they were a year ago, 47% say they believe the Affordable Care Act will harm their business. In 2010, 48% were just merely unsure about the future impact.
• In order to cut costs, 78% say employers have moved to higher-deductable health plans and 43% say their clients have shifted to consumer-driven plans.

The current impacts of health care reform include:

• Limited medical and health care plans for children are phasing out;
• Agents are shifting their resources to selling disability, supplemental, critical and long term care insurance, individual and self-funded policies, or even considering branching out into sales of annuities, life insurance or property and casualty products.

When asked what carriers can do to improve offerings, participants responded:

• 60% agreed they should offer better rate guarantees and stability
• 50% want more affordable products
• 24% think more quality leads will help agents better sell group benefits.

Results were featured in the August issue of Agent's Sales Journal, and complete survey results are available online at ASJOnline.com.

ABOUT AGENT'S SALES JOURNAL
Agent's Sales Journal provides sales-oriented how-to information to help independent insurance advisors expand their life, health, and annuity practices. The magazine's ongoing market research program allows the editors to quickly identify and respond to readers' needs and challenges in a rapidly changing marketplace. Comprehensive selling guides, unbiased insight from industry experts, timely feature stories, and a dynamic online presence give readers the information and ideas they need to grow their practices.

ABOUT AGENT MEDIA
Twenty years ago, Agent Media set out to build a reliable database and marketing solutions company to serve the life, health, and annuity segments of the insurance industry. Today, the database has grown to over 1.8 million producers, representing nearly every licensed agent and registered representative in the U.S. Agent Media is now the industry leader -- a one-stop marketing resource for a wide range of direct marketing needs.

ABOUT SUMMIT BUSINESS MEDIA
Summit Business Media is the leading B2B media and information company serving the insurance, financial services, legal and investment advisory markets. Summit strives to be "The Next Generation of Business Information" for executives and practitioners by providing breaking news and analysis, in-depth practice management strategies, business-building techniques and actionable data. Summit services the information needs of its customers through numerous channels, including digital, print, and live events. For more information, please visit SBMedia.com.

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Andy Stonehouse:  http://www.profnetconnect.com/Andy_Stonehouse

SOURCE Summit Business Media