Boca Benefits Consulting Group Inc.

We have indicated to our clients and colleagues for some time now that many employers do not receive adequate return for the investment they make in providing the financial/administrative platform for brokers and carriers to make direct sales to their employees. We have written more extensively on this subject in several of our The Insight e-newsletters. Issue 08.5.2 can be viewed directly by clicking here. We can also provide a copy via an email request to editor@bocabenefits.com. Our entire e-newsletter archive is available by clicking here: e-newsletter archive. A summary of our thoughts is below:

• Make sure you receive some level of service from the commissions earned by the broker on the voluntary benefits that are sold to your employees. You should know what the commission loads on the products are and if you are properly sharing. It is not uncommon for top brokers to forego over half the commissions payable via splits with service companies that bring added value to the client.
• Most often these are one-on-one enrollment services provided by a third party vendor and associated communication pieces.
• Communications are uniquely designed specifically to deliver the messages you want going to your employees.
• Voluntary enrollments can be packaged with your core benefit enrollments and the data can be electronically uploaded to your core benefit carriers.
• If you are presently using a voluntary benefits carrier that does not provide these kind of services, BBCG can assist you with a change.

We have been strong supporters of using broker commissions on voluntary benefits to finance on-site, laptop-captured, enrollments and communications packages provided by specialty companies. There are Read the rest of this entry »

Notes to this post:

1. BBCG has licensed agents in Florida and Washington D.C.  For other prospects, we will most often make the appropriate referral. In cetain cases, where it makes economic sense, BBCG will have an agent request a non-resident license in the appropriate state.

2. Golden Rule has changed its name to UnitedHealthOne as a subsidiary of United Healthcare.

3. BBCG now offers CIGNA indidivual and small group health plans in this same market segment.

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BBCG has selected Golden Rule, a United Healthcare company since 2003, as its primary carrier for the needs of individuals and families in Florida. We offer qualified HSA, traditional high deductible, and traditional copay type plans for individuals and families without access to employer sponsored group insurance programs. In addition to full benefit plans, there are also available “saver” type plans which provide high cost services coverage while trading off frequent lower cost services in return for lower premium levels (i.e., sometimes referred to as “catastrophic” type plans). Short term medical plans (i.e., up to six months) are also available for those temporarily between group sponsored plans.

These plans are excellent for those persons who are self-employed, who have taken early retirement, who are at the end of their COBRA eligibility, for students who have exceeded the limiting age of their parent’s group plan, who individually purchase health coverage with the assistance of their employers, etcetera.

These plans are also excellent for the public sector employee with one young dependent child (25 or less) who is in relatively good health. We have seen the standard underwriting of school systems, cities, tax districts, etc., pass along the average age skewing of the group to the “+1” dependent even when that dependent is actually substantially younger than the average. Retirees who may pay the entire true cost of the dependent coverage on a college age child would be well served to consider Golden Rule individual coverage. In addition to price, there is substantial flexibility in plan designs.

Those purchasing individual Golden Rule medical are also now eligible for two excellent Golden Rule dental plans.

Golden Rule plans are individually medically underwritten and are issued under a group association master contract. As such they cannot be considered “group insurance” plans per se. However, for smaller employers who facilitate the individual purchase of health coverage by their employees, a list bill to the employer can be provided as a vehicle for individual employee payment.

Although we feel Golden Rule’s on-line quoting and application procedures are state-of-the-art, as well as both flexible and price competitive, if a client does not feel they meet their needs adequately, BBCG has numerous other individual carrier markets from which we can solicit proposals.

Link for Free On-line Golden Rule Quote

 

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A table of services which can be provided to clients directly by BBCG or via trusted select strategic partnerships.

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