By Ram Sudireddy August 19, 2019
Some
fear that as technology becomes more advanced, the need for benefits brokers
will shrink, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Instead, these
technological advancements enable professionals to work more efficiently,
broadening their offerings and capabilities.
This is
especially true when expert advice is heavily relied upon to navigate a
complicated purchasing process, as is the case with insurance.
New
programs supporting pay-as-you-go benefits models have emerged and are growing
in popularity. They create transparency that empowers individuals and companies
to make informed choices about their health care while paying for services only
as they need them. The creation of apps allows consumers to proactively manage
their benefits, in real time, like never before.
Brokers
who are hesitant to push these models to clients because brokers believe it
might disrupt their relationships with insurance companies are mistaken.
Starting a new relationship with nontraditional insurance companies might seem scary
at first, but the fact is that these models already are highly sought after by
employees and organizations.
Traditional
insurance plans are a thing of the past; those that don’t jump on this trend
will be left behind to offer old, antiquated solutions.
Pay-As-You-Go Client
Benefits
Employers
want to offer benefits solutions that help employees manage their health needs
as cost-effectively as possible.
By
offering benefits solutions that meet the evolving needs of their team – such
as the ability to schedule and manage appointments via an app, increased
transparency into health care costs and convenient access to medical history in
one place and more – employers gain a unique competitive advantage at a time
when hiring and keeping the best talent has become increasingly challenging.
With a
pay-as-you-go solution, employers of all sizes now have the ability to offer
and customize their benefit plans. For example, with dental benefits,
traditionally only larger organizations could offer their staff a fully insured
dental plan.
Today,
with a pay-as-you-go solution, companies of all sizes – from one employee to
thousands – can customize a package that will best meet their team members’
needs. This might mean covering all dental visits at 100%, full coverage for
preventive care while partially covering other visits or choosing to follow a
more traditional model with the exception of pay-as-you-go billing.
Pay-as-you-go
solutions provide numerous financial benefits. Instead of being limited by the
large upfront premiums of traditional insurance plans, self-funded models
allocate benefits dollars into a company owned and managed fund. So, if team
members are not tapping into their benefits dollars, the company continues to
hold that money in the benefits account – no expense, no further loss.
Benefits To Brokers
Brokers
who realize the power of offering pay-as-you-go solutions to businesses will
quickly reap the rewards. Brokers are experts in the benefits field, providing
clients with the advice needed to choose the best possible solution. Without
offering these new models, brokers quickly disadvantage their clients, failing
as the experts we hold them to be.
Adapting
to new technologies and models can allow brokers to provide invaluable services
to their clients. By expanding their options, brokers will save employers money
while expanding their abilities to offer optimal benefits packages. It’s a
win-win scenario.
Pay-as-you-go
solutions can be customized and built directly for the needs of the client
regardless of size or budget. This opens a whole new market for brokers.
Companies
previously unable to afford traditional insurance plans are now able to buy
pay-as-you-go benefits packages. While expanding their market, brokers are now
able to build deeper relationships with their clients and solve their real
needs.
We
often use the term “value-add” when talking about benefits. What’s most glaring
is that the technology currently being used by the companies offering these
benefits is often unable to share data and analytics with brokers. This important
data highlights unique insights which can be a value-add that trickles down to
their clients (and even the employees).
This
data can help educate brokers on which of their client’s employees are using
their benefits, whether they are using in-network or out-of-network providers,
and how they’re using their benefits. This, too, can be leveraged to provide
employers better and less expensive options depending on their actual needs.
For
example, if a company is paying for top-tier coverage, but their employees only
visit providers in a middle tier, then the broker can advise the employer to
reduce their plan to the middle tier to help them save additional money, while
still fully meeting their employee’s needs. This data provides a clear
understanding of use, while allowing companies to offer the benefits their
employees want and need.
The
idea of replacing traditional insurance with pay-as-you-go solutions might seem
intimidating at first. But when you consider the benefits to brokers as well as
their clients, there is an undeniable opportunity for brokers who willing to
capitalize on this trend.
Ram
Sudireddy is CEO and co-founder of Bento. Ram may be contacted at ram.sudireddy@innfeedback.com.
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