As we’ve discussed before, the COVID-19 pandemic has prompted significant shifts in the views of employers and employees as it relates to employee benefits. More than ever before, employees are looking for more than just “basic” benefits like Health Insurance. Today, they want – and expect – more choice, with a broad array of options across the full benefits spectrum.
Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance Sales
According to the MetLife 20th Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends Study 2022, the list of “must have” and “nice to have” benefits includes the following – in this order:
- Health Insurance
- 401(k) or Other Retirement Plan
- Dental Insurance
- Paid Leave
- Vision Insurance
- Life Insurance
- Disability Insurance
- Defined Benefit Pension
- Health Savings Account
- Critical Illness
- Flexible Spending Account
- Accident Insurance
- Unpaid Leave
- Financial Wellness
- Hospital Indemnity
- Cancer Insurance
- Legal Services
- Home Insurance
- Auto Insurance
If you want to address changing employee needs and respond to today’s employer demands, it’s important that you embrace the Ancillary and Voluntary benefits marketplace.
First Step: Selecting the Right GA Partner
While many Major Medical carriers offer some additional coverages – most often Dental and Vision – few offer a broad range of Ancillary and Voluntary coverages.
To address more of your clients’ needs, you’ll need to work with multiple carriers. Selecting the right General Agency partner can give you access to more carriers and a broad range of products – boosting your opportunities to write more business and earn greater income.
Word & Brown partners with nearly two dozen Medical carriers and administrators for Small Group and Large Group coverage and more than three dozen Ancillary carriers and administrators.
Our Medical, Ancillary (Dental, Disability, Life/AD&D, and Vision), and additional product roster includes offerings from these companies:
- Aetna
- Aflac (Worksite Voluntary)
- Ameritas
- Anthem Blue Cross
- Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (Nevada)
- Avesis
- BEST Life
- Blue Shield of California
- CalCPA
- CaliforniaChoice
- California Dental Network
- Camden Insurance Agency
- Chinese Community Health Plan
- ChoiceBuilder
- Cigna
- Cigna + Oscar
- Colonial Life
- CompNet (Workers’ Comp)
- Delta Dental
- Delta Dental (EyeMed)
- D.I.S.
- Evolved Benefits
- Freedom Dental
- Guardian
- Health Net
- The Holman Group (EAP)
- Hometown Health (Nevada)
- Humana
- International Medical Group
- Kaiser Permanente
- Landmark Healthplan (Chiro/Acu)
- LIBERTY Dental
- Lincoln Financial Group
- MediExcel Health Plan
- MetLife
- Morgan White Group
- Nippon Life Benefits
- Premier Access
- Principal
- Prominence Health Plan
- Reliance Standard
- Seniors Choice
- Sharp Health Plan
- SIMNSA
- SmileSaver
- Sutter Health Plan
- Total Benefit Solutions
- United Concordia Dental
- UnitedHealthcare
- Unum
- WageWorks/HealthEquity (Administrative Services)
- Western Health Advantage
If your client wants to make coverage available but cannot afford to offer it on an employer-sponsored basis, that’s okay. As noted in an April 2022 article in Benefits PRO, Aon found a 41% increase in the Voluntary benefits availability between 2021 and 2022. Many of our carrier and administrator partners have options for Voluntary coverage. In fact, some specialize in Voluntary.
Whatever you and your clients are looking for, we’re sure to have a solution. Don’t hesitate to ask if you have questions.
Online Enrollment
Another advantage of working with Word & Brown is the availability of online enrollment (OLE) tools. As work trends have changed, and as more employers embrace remote work or a hybrid schedule, giving employees the ability to enroll in benefits from virtually anywhere is increasingly important.
Word & Brown recognizes the value of OLE and Human Resource Information System (HRIS) technology to streamline benefits enrollment – and your clients’ ongoing HR management. Our partner, Ease, offers a powerful benefit solution to manage OLE, payroll, HR, and benefits that includes:
- Online enrollment
- HR documents
- Onboarding
- Benefits administration
- Added resources
To learn more Ease, talk with your Word & Brown representative or visit our web page.
We’re Ready When You Are
Your Word & Brown team is eager is help you address more of your clients’ needs – and expand your sales and income. If you’re already doing business with us, call or email your Word & Brown representative to get started in the growing Ancillary and Voluntary markets. Read our Broker Aid blog post, Addressing Employee Needs With Ancillary Insurance, for additional tips.
If you’re not working with us yet, contact your nearest Word & Brown office, and we’ll help you match your clients’ needs to the right carriers and products in our diverse portfolio.
