Broker blog

What should you expect from the healthcare and employee benefits industries in 2020?

I’ve read multiple articles summarizing the decade we just closed. Can you believe we’re almost to the 10-year anniversary of ACA? After combining all the reading with the 20 conferences I attended last year, and hundreds of broker conversations – this gives me a pretty good idea about what to expect in the coming year.

One more week and this decade is “in the books!” Important things like memes have gotten better, but what about healthcare? From the 2010 signing of the Affordable Care Act to chants of “Repeal and Replace” to #MedicareForAll – healthcare reform continues to be a hot button. 

Do you hesitate introducing a new benefit to your HR Director clients because you see they already work with so many vendors? It's wise to evaluate the impact implementing new benefits has on your clients - and to pick partners who make that implementation and ongoing service smooth.

With that in mind, we're sharing 4 ways freshbenies makes life easier for HR clients…

We just returned from the second annual HLTH Conference at MGM Grand in Las Vegas and it did not disappoint again this year (click here to read my 2018 takeaways). HLTH (pronounced “health”) is a one-of-a-kind ecosystem event for the health industry.

Employee benefits aren’t what they used to be – or at least they aren’t limited to what they used to be. Medical, life, disability and retirement remain important, but how do employers stand out from the competition? 

Benefits help employers differentiate themselves in order to attract and retain quality employees. If that’s true, then offering the typical benefits only achieves part of the goal. 

STATS
Consider these stats…

What kind of experience do your clients have when they engage the healthcare system? Employers usually hear stories that sound something like this recent LinkedIn post….

Now consider that this quote was from an educated, experienced benefits advisor…UGH! 

Do you remember when Haven Healthcare was launched? 

It was February 2018 when Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase announced a collaboration to do something about healthcare for their employees. 

I shared my initial thoughts in this article focused on transparency, tech innovation, and the decision to form their collaboration as a non-profit entity. 

So, what do we know after 18 months? I’m sharing 4 updates…

Brokers, do you consider only “traditional insurance products” worthy of your clients’ time, attention and budget? Most of the brokers I work with don’t think this way, but I’ve had conversations with older-thinking brokers boxed into the idea that any benefit outside of the health plan is something they don’t need to care about.