5 Things Your Health Broker Won’t Tell You
1. “Don’t Ask Me This Question”
Does your health broker specialize in group health benefits – or is he or she a “jack of all trades?” If you believe that insurance is insurance and any person who sells some can monitor your benefits plan, you’re making a big mistake.
Group health benefits have become very complex over the past few years and the laws are constantly changing. Your health broker should be a specialist in group benefits and not someone you chose because he or she handles your liability or auto insurance. Getting the wrong broker can mean over paying for your benefits.
2. “I Recommend Insurance Companies That Pay Me More”
Does your broker always seem to recommend you stay with your current insurance company? If so, there could be something going on behind the scenes that you’re not being made aware of.
We all know that brokers get paid commissions to service your account but what many people don’t know is that insurance companies pay big bonuses to brokers who sell more of their products or keep more of their business on the “books.”
Bonus programs have very little to do with your best interests and lots to do with the brokers and the insurance carriers best interests. You should ask your broker why he or she is always recommends that you don’t change insurance companies.
3. “We Don’t Really Have a Dedicated Service Team for Your Group Benefits”
Many insurance agencies are small “mom and pop” companies with only a few employees (maybe 2 or 3) who handle the everyday tasks of answering the phones, filling out applications, getting quotes and so on. Very few agencies who claim to be benefit specialists actually have a dedicated team that will service your account.
You should make it a point when your hire a benefits broker to ask, “who will be handling my account? What are their names and how long have they worked for you?”
4. “Your Company is Too Big For Us”
What broker or anyone in sales would ever say, “sorry, your company is just too big for us and we can’t provide the proper service you might require.” I don’t think you will ever hear any broker admit that. Most brokers say that they handle accounts of all sizes – large or small. Whereas the real truth is they take anything they can get.
You should choose a broker who specializes in working with companies of your size. Ask your broker what size of companies do you specialize in? How many companies of my size do you currently work with? What are their names? Can you provide references?
5. “The Higher Your Premium, The More Money I Make”
The other day, I received a nasty email from a broker who said I was taking advantage of people by telling them that they can save money on their group health insurance. He insisted that health insurance rates are the same no matter what and there is nothing anyone can do to reduce the cost.
What a load of Crap!
Let’s revisit the facts, the ones that your broker is praying you don’t discover:
- If you have 10 or more employees, you can implement a Health Reimbursement Account and save your company up to 25% on your health insurance premiums. We have done this for several of our clients and it works like a money saving dream.
- Outsourcing your payroll and health benefits to a PEO or Professional Employer Organization will give you more health insurance options for your employees and save them – and YOU money too. However, be careful whom you outsource to. Not all PEO’s are alike. We only recommend PEO’s that utilize brokers like ourselves so we can keep an eye on them for you.
If you have any questions or comments, please call: 1-800-234-3702
