CA CE Courses
Our full California course list appears below. You can filter the list by class type or target audience. Click on a course to view more information.
Class Type
Target Audience
Word & Brown is recognized by SHRM to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®.
Compliance
ACA Hot Topics: Helping Clients Navigate Compliance Challenges and Changes
Educate yourself about the impact of Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliance and recent ACA changes at the federal level, so you can better understand the law and ensure compliance with its mandates. The course was developed based on frequently asked ACA questions from brokers and their clients to Word & Brown’s Compliance support team; it covers current trending ACA topics relevant to brokers and employer-clients’ businesses.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #356592
SHRM Certified
ACA IRS Reporting: Don’t Fear the Forms
This course dives into complex ACA reporting to the IRS for Applicable Large Employers (ALEs). We discuss group size and FTE counts, look at Forms 1094 and 1095, show you how to use differing IRS codes to report on coverage offers (required for anyone employed FT for at least one full month of the reporting year), talk about who reports what — and why — and more.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #334132
SHRM Certified
ACA Non-Compliance: IRS Letter Panic Prevention
Employers are receiving notices from the IRS seeking massive penalties for potential noncompliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) employer mandate. They are also receiving IRS notices requesting ACA reporting Forms 1094-C and 1095-C from previous years, if they did not submit them (which the IRS believes they should have). Employers are also receiving notices from the Exchange signaling a potential future ACA non-compliance penalty, which is triggered by an eligible FT employee getting a Premium Tax Credit to pay for Exchange coverage. This class educates brokers on what these letters are, how to walk clients through them, and how employers should respond. Many will find no need to panic, as these letters can often be responded to and closed without any penalty assessment.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #364811
SHRM Certified
ACA Turbocharged
This course helps agents explain the “how” and “why” behind the Affordable Care Act (ACA), when discussing health benefit plans. It introduces lesser-known facts about the ACA to agents, while helping them build on existing skills and knowledge to source and secure valuable health insurance addressing employee needs. Participants will be provided insight to enable them to fulfill more effectively their client advisor roles.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #383877
SHRM Certified
Avoiding Compliance Pitfalls
Learn the most-common compliance pitfalls that impact employers in our market. This course covers ERISA plan documents, COBRA administration, Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), and Section 125 Premium Only Plans (POPs). It includes an overview of common mistakes for each account type, fines and penalties for non-compliant plans, exemptions, limitations, and exclusions, and tips on troubleshooting errors.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #334133
SHRM Certified
COBRA 101
This course details the specifications of COBRA, the federal law that allows eligible employees and dependents to temporarily continue their employer-based health insurance plan(s). It covers enforcing agencies, penalties, what employers are subject to the law, qualifying events, election rights, paying for coverage, what an employer must do to stay in compliance and avoid costly fees, legislative updates, and more. The class also covers Cal-COBRA basics for employers with health plans in California.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #331251
SHRM Certified
Determining Employee Eligibility
This course gives agents a clear understanding of who is eligible for medical insurance in the Small Group marketplace. It helps producers distinguish between eligibility methods employers are able to implement, and offers guidance on which method might work best for different types of businesses. It includes guidance on defining a full-time employee – and information to help employers avoid non-compliance fines and prevent employee mislabeling.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #383876
SHRM Certified
Employee Handbook Compliance
Health insurance agents are often called upon as consultants to their small business clients in areas that expand outside the health insurance space. This course educates brokers and employers on employee handbooks — including pros and cons for having handbooks, compliance pitfalls, recommended content, related labor laws (Title VII of the National Labor Relations Act, etc.), and more. Word & Brown brokers can offer complimentary customized, compliant employee handbooks to their employer-clients; this class shows you how to use them as a prospecting tool and value-add.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #351574
SHRM Certified
Employer Health Insurance Compliance and Notification Requirements
This course covers the myriad of different mandated health insurance compliance and notification responsibilities for employers. Participants will gain an understanding of the laws, contents, and purposes of required notices discussed in the course (including common notices applicable to most employers). You will review the model language for notices, learn to whom employers are required to distribute notices, find out the best time to facilitate distribution (or redistribution), and receive guidance on compliant methods for distribution.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #376255
SHRM Certified
ERISA 101
This course educates health insurance agents and employers on the basics of ERISA law, with a focus on plan document maintenance, distribution rules, and best practices. Topics include an introductory overview of ERISA law, a discussion of the law’s intent and requirements — including the types of employers that must comply with ERISA, mandated Summary Plan Description (SPD)/Wrap documents, penalties for noncompliance, and more.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #336958
SHRM Certified
Group Benefits & Medicare Integration: Workforce Attrition, Aging Population, and the Modern Landscape
Based on commonly asked questions posed to Word & Brown’s Compliance team, this course focuses on broker and employer challenges with employees working past the traditional retirement age. It addresses employer requirements with respect to Medicare, paying for employees’ Medicare premiums, paying for employees’ individual health insurance premiums, Medicare primary/secondary payer group size determinations, COBRA and ACA Applicable Large Employer determinations, ERISA highlights, and more.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #363013
SHRM Certified
Group Health Insurance: Compliance and Calculations
This course educates agents on the myriad of Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliance responsibilities and calculations business clients face under the law. The presentation covers critical principles for employers under the ACA and includes an advanced look at some of the law’s most challenging requirements, especially mandated calculations. Also addressed are “affordability” testing and related COBRA and Medicare Primary/Secondary payer calculations.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #383878
SHRM Certified
Myth Busters: Employee Benefits Fact Vs. Fiction
This class is an interactive, fast fact-check on some of the biggest truths and misconceptions in the employee benefits industry. The discussion includes some of the most frequently-asked-about Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliance topics, ERISA, Premium Only Plans, COBRA, HRAs, industry buzz, new legislation, and more. You'll bust myths, gain a better understanding of the health care industry, and have fun.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #381483
SHRM Certified
Pandemic Response: Helping Brokers Address Client Concerns
This course provides guidance to agents helping employers respond to new challenges and changes in the health insurance market concerning the global pandemic. Topics include a deep dive into the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, Recovery and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA), and other related laws. This class includes resources to help support businesses and the economy during the downturn.
Compliance
Broker & Employers
CE #384176
SHRM Certified
Product
Account Based Plans — POP, FSA, HRA, HSA
This course focuses on the most-common compliance topics and pitfalls surrounding Account Based Plans. It looks at the “ins and outs” of Premium Only Plans (POPs), Health and Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). We also discuss plan requirements, design options, advantages, eligibility, participation, HRA/HSA/FSA “stacking,” plan limitations, and more.
Product
Broker & Employers
CE #331252
SHRM Certified
FSA 101 — Compliance, Administration, Education
Gain insight on the compliance, administrative, and educational complexities of Health Flexible Spending Accounts (Health FSAs), Limited Purpose FSAs, and Dependent Care FSAs. The course highlights benefits, allowances, restrictions, and document compliance requirements. It compares and contrasts accounts, including a discussion of Premium Only Plans (POPs) embedded in FSAs. Participants gain an understanding of how accounts are established, funded, and managed — and the benefits of sponsoring and participating in such plans.
Product
Broker & Employers
CE #377351
SHRM Certified
How to Navigate the Insurance Marketplace Using Technology
Learn how to collaborate on obtaining the right health care options that meet your customers’ need for the best-possible price. Gain a broad understanding of available employee benefits packages you can quote for your clients — and how to ask the right questions and how to use the technology available to quote correctly. Topics addressed include potential coverage pitfalls, data needed to quote efficiently, understanding value-added services carriers offer, online enrollment, and more.
Product
Brokers Only
CE #355351
HSA 101 — Compliance, Trends, and Consumer Education
This class offers an in-depth look at Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and provides guidance on how to succeed in the administration, education, and promotion of HSAs as well as employee education of HSA-compatible health plans and High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs). It will help you understand modern HSA trends, learn the importance of educating stakeholders and employees on HSAs, and provide guidance on how to serve employers’ needs more effectively by promoting HSAs in a compliant manner.
Product
Broker & Employers
CE #375311
SHRM Certified
Large Group — Embracing Large Group
Agents looking to gain a better understanding of the Large Group (101+) marketplace will benefit from this course. Learn how to become comfortable in the market, how to identify Large Groups’ expectations, and best practices to effectively tailor benefits packages to meet clients’ unique needs. Participants will also learn added compliance responsibilities, and how to capitalize on Large Group market opportunities.
Product
Broker & Employers
CE #384158
SHRM Certified
Business Administration
Employee Benefits Communication
As employers look for ways to reduce health care costs and increase employee satisfaction, the role of brokers is increasingly important. This course educates participants on effectively communicating health plans and other benefit changes. Explaining benefit enhancements, updates, and industry jargon can be a challenge in an era of short attention spans. Learn strategies to highlight important aspects of benefits, and ways to support clients’ decision-making.
Business Administration
Broker & Employers
CE #383879
SHRM Certified
Insure Like a Leader, Not a Boss
This course provides a practical guide to becoming the best leader possible – helping those in entry-level roles develop and achieve desired management skills and driving others to improve their leadership. Participants will learn actionable strategies to reprogram team member mindsets, foster a collaborative environment, create and track manageable personal and organizational business goals, build confidence and better work relationships, and become a transformational leader.
Business Administration
Brokers Only
CE #384160
SHRM Certified
Social Media Strategies for Health Insurance Agents
Learn how to leverage current customer-service and marketing skill sets to create or enhance your online promotion, create new connections, reinforce current relationships, and stand out in today’s new era of online social media. Brokers will gain a comfortable understanding of how to utilize social media to help others and be seen as an expert by those seeking health insurance information. Adopting LinkedIn’s recommended best practices, you will learn to excel in all aspects of social media.
Business Administration
Brokers Only
CE #375371
Ethics
Ethics I: Foundational Ethics and Principles for Health Insurance Agents
Learn the basic responsibilities of an honest, ethical agent in the health insurance space. The course looks at learned philosophical components of ethics — from principles taught in childhood to ethics and universal concepts, common sense principles, conduct in the workplace, and our industry’s code of ethics — and how to apply quality business practices and ethical solutions to real-life scenarios in health insurance sales.
Ethics
Brokers Only
CE #366636
Ethics II: Worthy of Your Clients’ Trust
This ethics course is designed to educate and inspire brokers to make integrity and customer CARE (compassion, advocacy, responsibility, and education), the foundation for all ethical decisions and service to clients. The course objective is to equip and encourage brokers to set, and consistently adhere to, a high standard of accountability and integrity for themselves and the team members who are under their supervision.
Ethics
Brokers Only
CE #366671
Ethics III: True North: NAHU Code of Ethics as a Moral Compass for Agents
This course challenges brokers to evaluate their own ethical practices to see how they align with the National Association of Health Underwriters Code of Ethics. We discuss NAHU’s principles as the “true north” of a broker’s moral compass and the importance of privacy, honesty, and professional conduct in sales, service, and all of your dealings with clients, associates, other brokers, and the companies you represent.
Ethics
Brokers Only
CE #368971
Security & Technology
HIPAA 101
This course discusses the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as it relates to Business Associates (health insurance brokers and health insurance agencies). The course discusses HIPAA’s privacy and security principles and requirements, and their impact on business associates’ day-to-day operations. We’ll discuss mandated HIPAA notices and disclosure requirements, the logic behind each notice/requirement, and the need to protect the security of Protected Health Information (PHI).
Security & Technology
Brokers Only
CE #331311
Online Enrollment & Security
Gain an understanding of the values and pitfalls of online enrollment. Learn about the types of online systems available (quoting, enrollment, HRIS, CRM, and payroll). Discover the dangers of online security — and how not to become a victim of the Technology Revolution. This course shows you how online enrollment tools can empower you — and effectively address your needs and those of your customers.
Security & Technology
Brokers Only
CE #355592
Online Enrollment: Why Aren’t We Using Online Enrollment More?
Online Enrollment (OLE) offers the promise of ease and efficiency; however, in reality, it has produced new obstacles to writing business. Some agencies have adopted these systems successfully. Some have avoided them altogether. This course covers the ins and outs of adopting a system, discusses why “we” collectively continue to avoid using them, and highlights problems that occur from both approaches. Attendees will gain insight into what you can expect as more carriers move to drive adoption of OLE.
Security & Technology
Brokers Only
CE #380771
Reboot the Cyber Attackers: Cybersecurity in the Roaring 20's
Agents will receive advanced, practical, skillset designs to defeat online threats in the insurance space, including a review of hackers, trackers, malware, and other dangers. The course covers security for Windows 10 and macOS. Participants will learn about security threats and vulnerability as well as risk-assessment best practices. Attendees will get information to help better serve clients, meet HIPAA requirements, and keep information secure.
Security & Technology
Brokers Only
CE #384159
SHRM Certified
The Fundamentals of Quoting Accurately
Employee benefits agents will gain a better understanding of the evolution, inner workings, and mechanics of quoting — accurately — in an ever-evolving marketplace. Learn the value a quote engine delivers and why quoting for products and policies is sometimes not available. Nuances between carrier and product quoting and their rules will help you deliver better customer support as you identify when group dynamics will support acquisition of a policy with a certain carrier or not, even before quoting.
Security & Technology
Brokers Only
CE #381011