(Mark Reynolds was recently interviewed for this article about how carrier restrictions are preventing small employers from taking advantage of programs to cut health insurance costs. The article appeared in the August 22 issue of Sacramento Business Journal.)
Insurers Warn Brokers
Health plans balk at employers who fill in gaps of high-deductible products
Health plans have fired a warning shot at the brokers who sell their products: Stop efforts to save employers money by combining two different types of insurance products, or you could be kicked out of the sales network.
They're also asking employers to sign statements saying they will not combine some high-deductible plans with certain types of self-insurance. If they combine such plans or refuse to sign, they could lose coverage.
Health plans say what brokers and employers are doing is akin to souping up a car in a way that quickly burns out the engine and forces costly repairs.
Some brokers, in turn, complain that insurers are restraining their ability to come up with innovative ways to save employers money and threatening their livelihood if they do.
California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is looking at the issue, but it appears insurers are acting within their legal rights, agency spokeswoman Molly DeFrank said.
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| A Call To Action
The Impact of HSAs on Providers
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The August issue of California Broker magazine includes an article submitted by BEN-E-LECT titled "The Looming Impact of Consumer Driven Plans On Healthcare Providers." We encourage you to read the article, as the problem outlined in the article is real and it is growing. Providers are indeed treating more and more patients covered by HSA compatible health plans, but in many instances, the patient has no money to pay for services.
Due to many factors, particularly the economy, employers are less likely or willing to fund, or continue to fund, HSA accounts. Therefore, this problem will get worse unless we take steps to change the situation.
HRAs and MERPs may be the best hope for rectifying this problem for patients, providers, and employers, as well as agents/brokers in the long term. Providers will put the welcome sign out for patients with HRAs and MERPs.
BEN-E-LECT is working with providers in California in an effort to address this growing concern. Agents and brokers can help as well. Contact Mark Reynolds at (559) 250-2000 to discuss how you can approach this matter in your community. Your local providers will thank you for it.
Unless we act now, providers may soon hang on their doors a "closed" sign for HSA members. | | | |
| BEN-E-LECT WEBINARS |
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BEN-E-LECT offers dozens of webinars planned for the remainder of 2008.
Webinar topics will include
- How & Why It Works
- Renewals
- Using The Plan Cost Summary Proposal
- Freedom Dental
- Employer Driven Dental
- Quoting 101
- Quoting 201
- Quoting 301 (advanced)
We've also added a new topic: "Why HRAs work better than HSAs?"
BEN-E-LECT will notify you of an upcoming webinar 10-14 days in advance. We will make every effort to reserve a spot for you. However, be sure to register early. Classes are filling quickly! |
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Summer is drawing to a close, vacations are a blissful memory, and kids are going back to school. What else?
Oh yeah, everyone's fall marketing campaigns are gearing up. The truth be known, BEN-E-LECT's marketing campaign never let up. Our sales this summer has hit a record as one of the best summer periods in
BEN-E-LECT's history. Why? We think there are three fundamental reasons:
- Employers are beyond "fed up" with the cost of their health plans. They are saying that 7 years of double-digit
increases is enough. "Show us another way of providing benefits to our staff;" they asked. And you responded.
- BEN-E-LECT's marketing team never took a break this summer. We continued with our weekly webinars, "Lunch
& Learns," and good old fashion marketing. And you responded.
- Brokers everywhere are seeing opportunity in BEN-E-LECT's Employer Driven Health PlansTM (EDHPs), our Chamber Affinity Program, and our Dental Plans. And you are responding.
Finally, small employers need relief and you are responding with new ideas and better plans.
You already know that BEN-E-LECT has created the Chamber Affinity Program designed specifically for Chambers of Commerce. Each month new Chambers join the roster of Chambers across California that are offering their members the BEN-E-LECT program.
Effective, August 15, BEN-E-LECT is modifying its marketing team approach to more actively support the Chambers already on board. An internal team led by Andrea Venegas will be working more directly with brokers attached to each Chamber to efficiently and more effectively get the BEN-E-LECT Plan out to members. Andrea will manage a dedicated team including our regional sales manager (RSMs), sales coordinators, and marketing analyst to recruit and support brokers who wish to market BEN-E-LECT among Chamber members.
Clearly, Chambers of Commerce are the best advocate small businesses could want and marketing a health plan endorsed by the Chamber should provide an agent great opportunities. We intend to help you convert these opportunities into new business. This is definitely a win-win opportunity.
Freedom Plans Enhancements
As we stated before, dental has become a larger part of what BEN-E-LECT provides to brokers. We are pleased to announce that we have made many enhancements to the Freedom Plans, which will become effective September 2008.
Freedom Plans 1, 2, and 3 will now include "ortho" plus a $20 co-pay has replaced the annual $50 deductible. We've implemented many other enhancements, so please contact your BEN-E-LECT regional sales manager for more details.
BEN-E-LECT's fully insured Freedom Plan is a suite of 7 traditional co-insurance plans and 3 direct reimbursement plans for a total of 10 plans .The premiums are very competitive, but the real advantage is that each employee can choose from 5 PPO networks. 10 plans and 5 PPOs: that's freedom!
Visit our website to access more information about The American Series of Dental Plans TM.
In Conclusion
We talk about opportunity to the point that it often loses its meaning. So, in a time when employers are "fed up" with their current health plan and the economy is pressing small employers more than ever, is there opportunity in the market? Could the opportunity be found in a health plan that lowered cost an average of $1,775 per covered EE in 2007, is endorsed by dozens of Chambers of Commerce, has a dedicated sales team, and considers brokers as partners?
We believe the combination of a plan like this and employers ready for change spells "o p p o r t u n i t y." Give us a call and make it a great 4th quarter for 2008!
Sincerely,
Mark Reynolds, CEO and President
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I N S I D E B E N-E-L E C T |
Renewal & Retention Department
Many of you have commented about the huge improvements in BEN-E-LECT's Renewal & Retention Department. Remember, BEN-E-LECT's annual financial reports are a terrific tool for you and your clients. Financial reports are being dispersed 45 days in advance of renewal time, and the level of accuracy is near 100 percent. We are also responding to special requests as though it were business as usual.
The credit for this efficiency goes to our R&R department staff and the team that backs them up. Tim Sarver, Kate Noel, and Daryl Sanchez are working tirelessly to prepare your clients' annual financial reports and are willing to meet any request.
If you have a minute, send them an email of thanks for their effort!
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Andrea Venegas Returns
We are pleased to report that Andrea Venegas is back from a well-deserved leave and ready to manage the BEN-E-LECT marketing team to even greater success.
Andrea has been a part of BEN-E-LECT's marketing team and its success since 2000. Her presence in the Marketing Department will increase your sales and make you more money. Her experience will be an asset to your staff as well as ours, and will propel us forward into the fall.
Take a minute to welcome Andrea back!
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| Headline News of Interest |
Thousands of California children are in danger of losing health insurance
Increased premiums for low-income families are expected to put the program out of reach for many. A new Medi-Cal policy is also expected to cut enrollees, further weakening the healthcare system.Los Angeles Times, August 24, 2008
SACRAMENTO -- California's promising strides toward extending medical coverage to all its children, a longtime goal of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and one advocates believed was in reach by decade's end, has stalled -- and thousands of kids are in danger of losing insurance.
The trend is likely to further destabilize California's already shaky healthcare system. Studies have found that children without insurance are less likely to go to the doctor for routine visits that allow early diagnoses and treatment for diabetes, obesity and other increasingly common ailments.
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VITAL SIGNS
Hammering out health-care benefits
Employers finalizing negotiations for 2009 coverage offerings
MarketWatch, Aug. 14, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- In the next few weeks, many employers will wrap up negotiations for the health-care benefits they'll offer workers during open enrollment later this year, and their decisions will affect millions of U.S. workers' pocketbooks.
The process of haggling over rates and selecting plan designs varies depending on an employer's size and timing preferences.
Many big companies with a Jan. 1 start date to the new benefits year finalized their negotiations in the spring so they could begin implementing and testing their systems, while smaller employers that turn over in the new calendar year often continue talks through the summer, said David Stacey, principal with Hewitt Associates, a human resources consulting company in Lincolnshire, Ill. Read more...
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Health insurance gains, losses balance out
San Francisco Chronicle, August 27, 2008
U.S. census figures released Tuesday show the number of people without health insurance decreased for the first time since 2001, but that drop was offset by a similar-size increase among those who rely on government health programs.
The number of uninsured declined to 45.7 million in 2007 from 47 million a year earlier, according to the Census Bureau figures. That put the uninsured rate at 15.3 percent, compared with 15.8 percent in 2006.
California's uninsured rate in 2005-07 was 18.6 percent, considerably higher than the national average. At opposite ends of the spectrum, 24.4 percent of nonelderly Texans had no health insurance for that two-year average, and 8.3 percent of those in Massachusetts and Hawaii, two states with the toughest laws governing health coverage, were uninsured.
The drop in the national uninsured figures was a surprising bit of good news in tough economic times, but several health experts said a closer look behind the number made them appear far less reassuring.
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