Broker blog

The above stat from a recent survey says a lot about how today’s health plans have a direct impact on the financial wellness of the end user – the employee. Maybe when you think about “financial wellness,” your brain immediately jumps to “wellness programs” that help employees stay fiscally sound. Or, perhaps, a program to save employees a couple bucks on their gym membership.

With skyrocketing healthcare costs, how can employers afford employee coverage and still offer dependent benefits? This is a very real challenge facing employers today. 

Can I tell you a quick story? You’ve probably heard something similar…and with the trend toward shrinking formularies, you’ll likely hear it more.

Now that we’re into a new year, it’s a season when many employee benefit consultants turn their sights to earning new clients. Do you still chase new business? Simply getting your foot in the door can be the ticket to earning a group's business, even if they already have a broker. The challenge becomes: how do you get them to open the door?

I recently wrote an article called Branding Your Agency: 4 Rules to Live By. This is a follow-up with more “how to” tips to help. I’m repeating the beginning of that article here because the pre-work to branding and advertising is SO important…  

In a recent post about the ongoing EpiPen pricing saga, I suggested that a case study might be unfolding before our eyes: for the first time I can remember, “consumerism” actually seems to be influencing health care prices. This is part two of that story.

Can you believe it? In just a few days, 2016 will be “in the books.” The healthcare industry roller coaster had a few twists throughout the year (with more to come in the year ahead)! Following tradition, we’re looking back at our most popular articles from the year gone by. Consider this our “2016 The Skimm edition.” Here we go…

Since late 2014, I’ve heard agents around the country complain about Zenefits. “They can’t take BORs like that!” “They aren’t even changing the plan design!” “Clients will hate their service once they find out how bad it is!”