Expect More From Your Broker: A Case Study In Quality Over Convenience

Health insurance is one of the most significant expenses in your company’s budget, often second only to payroll. Unfortunately, it is also one of the least understood. However, results often match expectations. Today, I want to share a cautionary tale illustrating why you must expect more from your health insurance advisor.

The Case Study: A Tale of Missed Opportunities and Poor Results

We just started working with a new client who had taken the path of convenience with their employee benefits for years. They are a medium-sized business with a diverse workforce. However, like many others, they had bundled their health insurance with their property & casualty insurance broker. At first glance, it seemed convenient: one less vendor to deal with, right?

However, with this approach came several problems.

Lack of Proactive Service:?The employee benefits broker was nowhere to be seen except during the annual renewal meeting.

Transactional Approach:?The broker’s service was limited to basic transactions, like renewal quoting, with no value-added consultative advice.

Opaque Fees: The company had no idea how much they were paying their broker for this “convenience.”

Benefits Administration Nightmare:?The company had to handle all employee enrollments and terminations, adding to their administrative burden.

Poor Understanding:?Overall, the company needed a more comprehensive understanding of its benefits program because it had given up control to its broker.

They dealt with poor service and rising costs for years until they hired a Director of Human Resources. She looked at their program and said, “What is this??”

So, she reached out to us for a consultation. We immediately conducted a comprehensive audit of their existing plan, identifying gaps and opportunities for administration efficiencies and cost savings. Our strategy included:

Streamlined Administration:?We took over most of the benefits administration tasks, including employee enrollments and terminations, so her team could focus on taking care of their employees.

Consultative Approach:?We are not just showing up once a year at renewal time. Our team is providing ongoing, year-round advice on benefits optimization.

Transparent Fees:?Even though we receive commissions, we are transparent about it, so they know precisely what they are paying for our specialized service.

The kicker? We are providing these enhanced services at the exact cost they paid their previous, non-specialized broker.

The Moral of the Story? Expect More, Demand More

Expect more from your health insurance advisor. It’s easy to choose the path of convenience. Still, you owe it to your employees and to your bottom line to align yourself with a broker who views health insurance not as an add-on service but as an integral asset to your company’s success.

Your benefits are not just an expense you pay every year. They are an asset that attracts top talent, enhances employee satisfaction, and even improves productivity.

Your benefit costs are too significant to be managed by someone with expertise elsewhere. Specialized service can make all the difference in the world, and as our case study showed, it doesn’t have to cost you more.

So, I challenge you: Expect more from your health insurance advisor. Your company deserves nothing less.