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We publish a monthly (snail mail) newsletter. Well, almost monthly... we miss now and then.

If you want to jump right to the Newsletter Table of Contents and links to back issues, click here and skip my explanation of what we're trying to do in the newsletter.

We think it's pretty exciting, and lots of our friends and clients tell us they like it too. I'm not sure they quiver with excitement like this guy, but I get lots of feedback.

First, we talk about employee benefits... new ideas, new products. Ways to cut costs (almost every month there's a cost-cutting tip).

But we try real hard to avoid jargon.

We go into depth on specific products that we feel either have significant potential to dynamically change your benefits picture or that we feel are misunderstood.

For example, right now we believe that the Health Savings Account (HSA) is potentially the single most powerful tool to radically change the way you do health insurance. A huge potential breakthrough in controlling medical costs.

The HSA Plan could be the biggest breakthrough in Health Insurance in years.

But, candidly, it's vastly underused -- particularly in Massachusetts.

Why? While our paternalistic HMO-oriented history plays a part, at least part of the reason for its slow growth is lack of understanding.

So we've focused on the HSA for the last three months of 2007, and we'll continue the focus in the first few months of 2008 as well.

Another thing we believe in is that business only occurs between people... personalities... individuals. We think it's important for you to know us so that you can trust us.

So BBI Benefit Bits talks a lot about us -- the folks in our firm, our clients, our philosophy. We try very hard to give you a window into our minds so that you can know what to expect as a client.

So while, as one client told me in an email, "sorry, I don't care what you did on your summer vacation," we still put that stuff in there. She might not care, but most of our clients do.

Restaurant reviews. Silly thing to put in a newsletter? Maybe, but my wife, Kathy, and I love finding good, cutting edge, newsworthy restaurants. And when we do, I share that with my readers.

Case studies. What works for one of our clients might work for you, too. So we talk about what various clients were able to achieve and how they did it. We never give away specifics of anyone's business, but we tell you about actual outcomes, so you can judge for yourself.

Last, anything that strikes my fancy goes in. Why not? I write it, I should be allowed to put in what I like and leave out what I don't. As President George H.W. Bush said about broccoli, "Heck. I'm the President. I don't have to eat broccoli if I don't want to."

Therein lies the only explanation for some of the stuff I put in BBI Benefit Bits.