The Insurance Agent's Resource
From the East Coast to the West Coast and at almost every location in between, public entities are struggling to balance diminished revenue, increasing demands for service and the rising costs of employee benefits. In fact, bankruptcy is either looming or has become reality for a number of local governments, including the cities as far apart as Stockton, California and Central Falls, Rhode Island. Finding a way to cover obligations at a lower cost has never been a more pressing … [Read more...]
Imagine for one moment … you’re sitting at your desk on Friday afternoon, knocking a few last items off your to-do list before escaping for the weekend. Suddenly, the phone rings. It’s a client you’ve been serving for years, but this time, he isn’t calling to talk about a claim gone wrong or an irritating carrier. This time, the client tells you he’s closing his doors – for good. As this client’s insurance broker, what do you do? Nothing – it’s his business and his … [Read more...]
As I’ve often said, opening the door to the voluntary sale is a much more difficult task than opening the door to the group major medical sale. In the major medical sale the employer is generally highly motivated to seek solutions to the escalating premiums since he is most likely paying the bill. However, there is no such motivation when it comes to voluntary benefits. Despite the increased difficulty in opening new opportunities, the group health agent would be well served to become … [Read more...]
What are you worth to any one of your clients? I mean in dollars. What’s your actual dollar value to your client? Do you have any idea? Does it come anywhere close to the commission you are making off the client? Is your client aware of the added value you provide? It’s a question you should be asking yourself. And it’s not an idle exercise. Aetna Is First In what it calls “post-reform positioning,” Aetna announced in April 2011 it is shifting to a “service fee broker … [Read more...]
Confidence in voluntary benefits is on the rise among carriers, brokers, customers and vendors in the market, according to a recent survey by Connecticut-based Eastbridge Consulting Group. The survey’s confidence index – based on sales growth, industry profitability and employee enthusiasm about products – continued to increase through the end of 2011, and 95 percent of survey respondents expected sales growth to continue throughout 2012. Voluntary Benefit Plans let employees choose … [Read more...]
ERISA, the dirty little acronym for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, is found almost everywhere these days—on insurance documents, insurance cards and even on the forms you and your clients may sign at the doctor’s office. Originally passed by the 93rd Congress in 1974 with the intention of helping employees, ERISA now is used as a legal loophole to protect insurance companies instead of policyholders. Even if policyholders are wrongfully denied insurance benefits, under ERISA, … [Read more...]
