The American Medical Association’s 2019 Policy Research published that the U.S. increased health spending by 4.6% in 2019 to $3.8 Trillion (yes, that’s a “T”). The largest piece of that pie was Hospital Care. Other categories include Physician Services, Prescription Drugs and more….
Health care and health insurance are different. However, some of those dots do connect. In a world where health care is usually among the top 4 expenses in a company’s P&L it only makes sense to take partnering with the right employee benefit broker seriously. Fortis Life Group excels at employee benefits and we would love to earn your business, but even if we don’t here are a few concepts we believe you should think about.
Do You Like This Person / Company?
May not be the most important question but hear me out. This person, team or company has the potential of working very closely with members of the executive team, founding team and/or HR. They might even be interacting with your employees. We think it’s important there is a sense of personality and like-ability. After all, people want to do business with people they like.
Knowledge and Experience
So much to say this could be it’s own chapter in a book. Actually, it could be it’s own book. There are many factors that come into play. Here are a few concepts to wrap your head around. It takes time in the industry (just like any industry) to claim experience let alone expertise. Our team has years of experience (and expertise) around this and we love talking about it. Schedule a quick call HERE if you want to learn more about our philosophy around employee benefits.
Region / Location
- Different insurance companies have different reimbursement schedules with physician and hospital networks in different regions. This directly impacts your rates (premiums)
Example: CIGNA may be less competitive in state “X” while AETNA may own the market in that state.
- Does your broker know how to evaluate this and relate it to your health care spend?
Understanding Your Business / Benefit Structure
- Example: A 20 employee restaurant with a predominately younger male workforce is not the same as a 20 employee engineering firm with a higher paid mid 40’s employee base.
- We believe benefits should reflect the employer expectations and employee expectations (and purchasing desires)
Understanding Your Benefit Broker’s Business
- Employee Benefit Consultants have a business to run too. The more successful they are (morally, ethically and financially) the longer they will be around to service you and provide cost effective solutions
- Understand how your benefit partner is getting paid. It’s usually one of two ways; commission paid by the insurance company or fee for service.
- Understand who is on their team. More employees doesn’t always equal better service, but it’s good to understand who plays what role. I.E. account manager, producer etc..
Our main purpose for The Fortis Life Group articles on the resource center is to introduce you to concepts and ideas that help point you in the right direction. Here are a few more closing concepts. Enjoy!
WRITTEN BY: DAVID JOHNSON | FOUNDER, FORTIS LIFE GROUP
DAVID@FORTISLIFEGROUP.COM
