Benefits Selling - March 2012

Tech

maximum HSA contribution. Overall, these tools arm employees with the preliminary information they need to make an informed decision. Such tools reduce a broker/consultant’s administrative “overhead,” frees them up to maximize their time and resources, and improves both employer and employee satisfaction.

administrative burden to brokers or employer groups.

processes, while a fee-based model allows brokers to be paid for their consulting as a component of their overall services.

• Electronic benefits communications.

Many brokers and vendors are offering a communications component to add “value” to their offerings. It’s estimated that companies spend up to $3 per-employee-per-month on printed benefits-related communications. And while some organizations are experimenting with social media to introduce interactivity, build community, and drive proactive utilization, these tools are rarely integrated into an overarching communications framework.

In actuality, traditional health and wellness communications are ineffective at reaching and engaging employee populations primarily because the information is static ( one-way) and uninvolving. The upside is that this void represents an opportunity for brokers to offer electronic communications as a fee-based program (i.e., PEPM) for employer groups that requires minimal broker investment (resources, money) or ongoing maintenance. Imagine an engaging, attractive, easy-to-read email (one that embeds “actionable” links), and a dynamic, integrated Twitter page that sustains communications through the week, exposing employees to broker, vendor, or company-sponsored tools, programs and resources. This approach provides consistent, year-round benefits-related communications, deepening engagement and creating a more proactive health-conscious user community. Moreover, embedding links within each article can route readers to relevant resources, driving education, proactive behavior, and utilization of programs and services. In short, electronic communications can effectively be delivered at a lower PEPM without adding

• “Value-added” consulting. In the Met Life study, when brokers were asked how their roles might be different three years from now, 83 percent said they see themselves spending more time consulting with clients on legal and compliance issues. A broker’s core value— in any environment—is measured by the quality and breadth of the consultation offered. The benefits administration and

It’s not just broker
commissions that
are at risk—it’s
an entire business
model.

enrollment technology as described here allows brokers to free themselves from the time-consuming and costly administrative tasks, enabling them to focus on what they do best: offer their expertise and support.

The health care exchanges could well improve an individual’s ability to navigate among various and sundry plan options, but marketing and placing coverage for clients is only a part of the broker’s role. Brokers will still be relied on to help clients manage plan costs, set up employee contributions, assure compliance (i.e., ERISA, HIPAA, COBRA, Sec. 125, etc.), implement and design wellness initiatives, and coordinate employee communications.

Of course the challenge is in offering these high-value services within a framework that puts pressure on margins. Here is where a best-of-breed technology platform, combined with a fee-based model, can go a long way in promoting a broker’s economic viability—as the technology cuts overheard and streamlines

A DIFFICULT ROAD AHEAD

To this point, we’ve addressed the changing
landscape from the broker’s perspective.
Ironically, the perspective of small- and
mid-sized companies appears to be more
encouraging. According to the Met Life
study, “ 54 percent of employers plan to
rely, even more than usual, on their broker
or consultant to keep them apprised and
educated on health care reform issues.”
That number can be expected to
rise as fee-based models become the
norm, affording employers greater
transparency and, as a consequence,
forces brokers to demonstrate value.
The Met Life study points to an increase
in the involvement of the CFO in
benefits decisions, which gives brokers
an achievable metric: showing how
employee benefits drive loyalty and job
satisfaction and contribute to attaining
work force retention and productivity
goals.
The road ahead will be difficult,
the transition will not come without
hardship, but there is a way forward. No
matter how the landscape shifts, brokers
can, and will, continue to have a role by
focusing on the invaluable services they
provide—but it will take agility, creativity,
and a careful inventory of tools and
processes, maximizing efficiencies across
the “value chain.” Brokers can make a
fee-based model economically viable
by implementing benefits enrollment,
administration, and “intelligent”
decisioning technology that lowers
operational costs and sustains high levels
of service delivery—harmonizing two
otherwise mutually exclusive objectives