Not all employee benefits managers and business owners understand the real advantages of using a health insurance broker. You can help them by explaining the value they gain by working with you when shopping for employee benefits for their businesses and employees.
Shopping the Market
As a broker, you have access to plan and product information your customers cannot easily access on their own. They may think it is cheaper to go directly to an insurer. That’s not true. Prove your value to prospects and clients by showing them you can shop the “full” market – and help them get the most value for their health insurance dollars. Remind your clients they will pay the same for their help plan, whether they use a broker or not. They don’t pay you for your services; you earn commission from the carrier. Our new flyer, Benefits of Using a Broker, can help.
If you work with a general agency (GA), you can count on your GA’s sales, marketing, and underwriting teams to help you strategize to find the best-possible solutions to address your clients’ needs. That will enable you to find the right match to address all employees’ needs – no matter how diverse.
Comparing Networks
If your GA is Word & Brown, you can use our proprietary software to instantly search, compare, and build quotes with the doctors, medical groups, and hospitals your clients want in the plans they may be considering. Our tech uses the carriers’ latest data. That means you have access to the most current information when looking up plans and network providers.
That integration can save your clients money whenever they go to visit a doctor, or when seeking treatment at an urgent care facility or hospital. Having the right health coverage can make an enormous difference. The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) has reported that hospitals sometimes charge uninsured patients two to four times more than what health insurers and public programs pay for covered services. That can add up quickly.
Helping Employees Stay Healthy – and Save
Your client’s decision to offer health insurance delivers a variety of benefits – to them and their employees and insured family members. It can help business owners attract and retain their best employees in a competitive talent marketplace. It can also help employees and their family members stay healthy.
Enrolled employees may grumble occasionally about their out-of-pocket costs for deductibles, copays, and coinsurance. However, these costs are a bargain compared to having a need for medical treatment and not having health insurance. Without such coverage, individuals and families could be on the hook for thousands of dollars – or more – in annual medical costs. That could be financially ruinous.
Getting coverage through an employer could also save employees. With employer-sponsored coverage, employees typically pay only a portion of the costs. That compares to 100% of the costs if they must find coverage on their own. KFF reported in October 2022 that premiums for single and family coverage vary by region, firm type, and selected plan.
In the past five years, the average premium for single coverage has grown 18%. For family coverage, average premium growth is up 20%. For covered workers in small firms, average family premium growth is higher – about 26% versus 17% at larger firms.
For all plan types, in 2022, cost sharing by the employer and employee averaged 83% and 17%, respectively, for single coverage. For family coverage, it averaged 73% and 27%. The average premium across all plan types was $7,911 for single coverage and $22,463 for family coverage. Using these numbers, the employee cost in 2022 averaged $1,327 (approximately $111 per month) for single coverage and $6,106 (approximately $509 monthly) for family coverage.
Finding comparable individual plan rates when shopping on their own could be challenging for individuals and families, especially if they do not qualify for premium subsidies on public marketplace exchanges.
Offering Value-Added Extras
Your affiliation with Word & Brown means you also have access to value-added extras, which you can offer to your clients at no cost. These include things that your client would likely have to pay for if doing business with a carrier directly or when using another broker. Among our no-cost value-adds are HR support from Mineral, COBRA administrative services, and a Premium Only Plan – ask us for details.
It Doesn’t Stop There, Either
Word & Brown works with a diverse roster of Small Group and Large Group carriers. We offer a broad product and service portfolio. It includes Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, Disability, Chiropractic, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP), administrative services, and more. You can view state-, market-, and product-specific lists on our website.
You can build a quote using the most advanced Small Group quoting engine in the health insurance industry – or we will do it for you, if you prefer. If your market focus is Large Group, we have a team dedicated to that niche, too. Plus, we offer resources to speed up your enrollments and help you better manage your business.
We are committed to helping you quote more, write more, and retain more business – year after year. Contact your Word & Brown representative today. Or, if you’re not yet doing business with us, fill out our online form or contact one of regional offices in California or Nevada.
