Broker blog

When I was in college, a friend called me with all the enthusiasm of a new convert gushing about an amazing book he read from an author named Napoleon Hill. The book was called “Think and Grow Rich.” It was the start of my love affair with business reading.

I just returned from the 2017 BenefitsPRO Broker Expo in Indianapolis. In light of the recent health care reformdebacle, I expected to get the pulse of the fast-changing employee benefits business and the brokers that are on the front lines working with customers. I was NOT disappointed.  

Following are my top 10 takeaways from the conference…. 

Things aren’t always as they seem, are they? From the outside looking in, people might think commissions for health insurance brokers are at an all-time high given the steep rise in premiums over the last several years. And with more individuals seeking coverage to avoid ACA penalties, that should be adding to the pile of money, too. Right?

Industry insiders know commissions continue to be slowly siphoned off. Insurers strip commissions to influence which plans brokers sell, and some have stripped commissions from individual plans entirely. 

Have you seen this finding from a MetLife Employee Benefit Trends study?

“As the number of benefits offered in the workplace rises, so does employee appreciation, including their intent to stay….”

It begs the question: how can smaller employers compete with larger companies when it comes to their benefit plans? 

It was about as close as you can get to a sure thing in politics. Since 2010, Republicans have complained about the Affordable Care Act, calling it one of the worst laws ever enacted. For the past seven years, they’ve vowed to repeal it. During President Obama’s terms in office, they voted over 50 times to do away with his signature legislation.

Have you ever heard the saying, “You can’t spell hero without HR”?

Well in my years of being a Human Resources Director (HRD), I’d have given anything for a couple of reflective gold cuffs and a rope to get the truth out of people!

But seriously, I assure you when an insurance broker could clearly define the benefits package and show me how to help employees understand and use the benefits, they became my superhero! 

Based on my experience, I’m sharing 3 tips for how brokers can deliver a stand-out experience to the HR Directors they serve... 

How often do you hear employees comment about how easy it is to understand their health benefits? Yeah, me either. Confusion often plays a significant role in the employee’s effort to understand the changes and complexity of their benefit plans. This is especially true in today’s world of benefits. 

Health Savings Accounts have been around since 2004 and, aside from a few tweaks along the way and an annual adjustment for inflation, are pretty much the same as they were when they were first introduced. That could soon be changing, though. Nearly every major proposal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act—including those by Donald Trump, Paul Ryan, and Tom Price—includes multiple suggestions to improve and expand HSAs.