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Employee Benefits

3 Creative Ways To Cut Costs In Your Benefits Plan

by Jim Blachek
December 4, 2019

There are many savings opportunities hiding in your benefits plan, but you can only unlock them if you’re working with an adviser who knows what to look for. Status-quo benefits plans are designed to offer patients healthcare options that get brokers and insurance companies paid more, but they do so by providing your employees with inferior healthcare at a greater cost to you. Making the most out of your plan’s cost-cutting potential requires a bit of creative thinking and strategizing with your adviser, but the results are worth it.

Here are a few innovative ways you can save money on your benefits plan without sacrificing quality:

Explore High-Tech Options

Don’t assume that a healthcare tool or treatment is more expensive just because it seems futuristic. Advancing technology in the healthcare industry is making it easier to prevent, diagnose, and treat ailments and illnesses, and that can mean big savings for your business.

Perhaps the fastest growing trend in high-tech healthcare benefits is the use of telemedicine, which enables patients to receive medical consultations over the phone or a video conference (and has the potential to save U.S. employers up to $6 billion a year, according to a Towers Watson study). But your company’s wellness program can also use technology to help your employees keep track of their own health. Simply encouraging or incentivizing the use of health-based apps can help your employees make more informed lifestyle choices, potentially reducing doctor’s visits associated with smoking habits (which can cost employers up to $50 billion annually, according to UPMC), poor diet, and lack of exercise.

Implement A Wellness Program

The numbers support the mantra that prevention really is the best medicine. A 2012 Gallup study revealed that employees with higher-ranked “well-being” had 41 and 62 percent lower healthcare costs than those who were “struggling” or “suffering,” respectively. And if you want your employees spending less time at the doctor’s office or recovering from surgery, a company-wide wellness program can pay off for you, too.

While preventative care can’t eliminate all doctor’s visits, providing incentives for your employees to make better choices for their health can reduce trips to the hospital, sick days, and lost productivity. In fact, a study published in the Journal of Health Affairs found that businesses saved an average of $3.27 in healthcare costs per dollar invested in wellness programs.

Offer The Option Of A Health Savings Account

Health savings accounts, or HSAs, are becoming an increasingly popular way for employees to gain more control over their healthcare while reducing costs for employers. A 2011 study by Employee and Account Holder surveys revealed how employees’ healthcare habits changed when they started contributing their own income toward an HSA:

  • 28 percent opted for lower-priced prescription drugs
  • 54 percent set aside more money for healthcare coverage than before they had an HSA
  • 18 percent made healthier lifestyle choices
  • 31 percent planned their healthcare better throughout the year

The more informed choices that employees make when they contribute to an HSA mean that they’ll be more careful not only with their money, but also yours.

Greater Savings Through Innovative Options

By offering options like better technology, wellness programs, and HSAs, your benefits plan can provide your employees with great healthcare without unnecessary costs to you. The right adviser will think outside the box to explore every available savings opportunity, keeping your workforce healthy and happy while providing you with funds you can use to help your business grow where it’s needed most.

Contact me to see how working with an innovative adviser can help you reduce costs in ways you might not expect.

Employee Benefits

How Better Technology Improves Employees’ Healthcare Experience

by Jim Blachek
December 4, 2019

Advancements in technology have made it easier for business to provide workers with better healthcare at a lower cost, and if your benefits plan hasn’t caught up with the times, you could be losing money, hiring power, and productivity.

One of the most popular ways businesses have been implementing technology into their benefits plans is by including telehealth options. These services allow patients to have consultations with physicians via phone or video chat, eliminating the need to travel to a physical doctor’s office. Implementing telehealth services into your plan benefits can not only give your employees a more convenient healthcare option, but also provide a boost for your business.

Efficient Healthcare At A Lower Cost

Using technology in your benefits plan follows the Next Generation model of offering your employees equal or better quality healthcare for less. A study by RedQuill Consulting found that using telehealth services instead of in-person consultations could offer savings of up to $126 per visit. And the savings don’t come at the expense of quality, either – the same study found that about 83 percent of patients’ health problems were resolved in their first telehealth “visit,” with no follow-up needed. Telehealth services can’t solve every medical issue, but they can provide a less expensive option for employees with minor health problems.

A Magnet For Millennials

The Pew Research Center found that as of 2017, millennials are the largest generation in the work force, and if you want to attract them to your business, you’ll need to provide a healthcare plan that fits with the technologically advanced, on-the-go lifestyle they’re accustomed to. In 2015, a Salesforce study found that about 60 percent of millennials supported the use of telehealth, and that number has only continued to grow.

A study from Qualtrics found that 73 percent of millennials believe technology makes their work-life balance easier, and you can easily apply that principle to your benefits plan – by using telehealth services, an employee doesn’t have to worry about finishing a project on time due to taking time off to go to the doctor for a prescription. Instead, the service they need is at their fingertips, providing them with the same convenience they experience when ordering clothes or food online. A benefits plan that’s in line with the times shows potential hires that your business puts employees first and utilizes technology to find efficient solutions.

Keeping Employees In The Office

Employees are spending a lot of time visiting the doctor. A 2015 study by the American Journal of Managed Care found that the average visit to a physician takes 121 minutes, which includes time spent traveling to and from the facility, doing paperwork, and just waiting to be seen. In fact, only twenty minutes of that time is spent in the presence of a physician, and chances are that everything covered in that visit could be taken care of remotely.

Aside from the fact that insurance costs are higher when employees make in-person doctor’s visits instead of handling their medical concerns via telehealth services, that same study found that each visit an employee makes to their PCP costs their employer about $43 in lost productivity. In other words, if every worker in a 100-person company visits the doctor four times a year (which is the national average, according to Forbes), the business could lose $17,200 annually – and that doesn’t include costs associated with higher premiums. Utilizing telehealth services gives employees the option to take care of their basic medical concerns from their desk or home, saving them time and saving you money.

Modern Healthcare for Modern Businesses

Adding value to your benefits plan by including telehealth services can keep your employees healthy while still keeping them out of the doctor’s office. By lowering premium costs, attracting millennials, and keeping employees at work, telehealth is proving to be a necessity for any business that wants to thrive in a competitive market.

See how giving your benefits plan the modern touch can help grow your company by contacting me today.

Employee Benefits

How One-On-One Benefits Meetings Create Educated Employees And Bigger Savings

by Jim Blachek
December 4, 2019

Even though a next-generation adviser can help you develop the tools and strategies required to drive down your healthcare costs, they won’t be effective if your employees don’t know how to use them. Traditionally, the communication of how a benefits plan works is confusing and impersonal, and as a result, employees rarely make the most cost-effective choices throughout the healthcare process.

All of that can change, however, if your adviser hosts one-on-one meetings with your employees. By speaking individually with each worker, your adviser can answer specific questions and educate your employees about how their choices can create savings opportunities for them and their employer without sacrificing the quality of their healthcare.

A Personal Approach

It’s standard procedure to communicate the terms of a benefits plan via a large group meeting or a hefty collection of paper covered in complicated legal terms, but while that method might be more convenient for brokers, it makes the benefits process impersonal and confusing for employees. Face-to-face meetings with advisers, on the other hand, can make employees feel like their benefits plan is tailored specifically for them, making them feel more valued in the workplace.

Having your employees meet for one-on-one discussions with your adviser can also help you reach your intended goals regarding your benefits plan. A study by Harvard and the University of Chicago found that negotiators who shook hands were more likely to achieve outcomes that satisfied both parties, and research published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology revealed that requests made in person were 34 times more likely to be fulfilled than requests made over email. Face-to-face meetings are not only better for communicating how employees can more effectively use their benefits, but also for developing the personal connections that encourage them to implement the strategies discussed.

Better Employee Engagement

Your adviser can arm your business with the necessary tools to decrease your benefits spending, but if your employees don’t know how to use those tools, you’ll still miss out on potential savings. Directly informing employees about how to make the best healthcare choices reduces the chances that they’ll follow the status-quo procedure of walking into whichever medical facility is closest to their house and handing over their insurance card.

For example, an employee who doesn’t understand how to look for low-cost alternatives throughout the healthcare supply chain might immediately accept a doctor’s recommendation for an expensive knee surgery. But an employee who’s educated about the new strategies involved in your benefits plan is more likely to seek a second opinion and lean towards a less expensive, less invasive treatment plan.

Lower Costs For All Stakeholders

Giving individualized attention to your workers regarding their benefits plan can decrease overall costs for both you and your employees. Sitting down with an adviser can make it clearer to an employee that the strategies being implemented don’t just reduce costs for the employer – they also save employees money on their copays and deductibles, especially when the employer is willing to compensate their workers for making cost-effective decisions throughout the healthcare process. When you and your employees are on the same page, everyone wins, and a one-on-one meeting with a benefits adviser can help communicate how all the stakeholders can work together to take advantage of all the potential savings opportunities in your plan.

Better Communication For Better Healthcare

The positive impact of a one-on-one meeting with a benefits adviser will cause a ripple effect throughout your business. Your employees will better understand the strategies your adviser wants them to implement, which will lead them to make more cost-effective choices about their healthcare, which will lead to savings for both them and the business as a whole. The personalized touch of a face-to-face discussion is crucial for turning tools into results, and a next-generation adviser can help make that process a reality.

Contact me today to see how a next-generation adviser can give you and your employees a better healthcare experience.

Employee Benefits

The Top 5 Things Employers Should Reevaluate As They Look Toward Their Renewal

by Jim Blachek
December 4, 2019

The changes you make to your benefits plan at the end of the year can have a massive impact on your company. Rather than waiting until the last minute to start thinking about your renewal, you should start reevaluating your plan months ahead of time. By analyzing what’s working in your benefits plan and what could improve, you can use your renewal strategically to increase your savings and help your business continue to grow.

Here are the five most important questions you should be asking ahead of your renewal:

5. Are my employees educated about their benefits?

In order for both you and your employees to get the most out of your business’ benefits plan, your employees need to understand how to make cost-effective healthcare choices. Use your upcoming renewal as an opportunity to keep your employees up-to-date on the changes that may occur in their plans and inform them about how they can save money while still receiving great benefits.

Having your adviser meet one-on-one with your employees is an effective way to make the benefits experience more personal while also providing workers with the education they need to make the right decisions in their healthcare process.

4. Is my business’ benefits plan designed in accordance with my employees’ best interests?

While your benefits plan should create savings opportunities for your business, it should never do so at the expense of your employees. Developing a plan that offers better healthcare at greater convenience and a lower cost should be a priority for you as you start thinking about your renewal, especially because it can lead to:

  • Increased employee morale
  • Better recruiting and retention rates
  • Fewer employee sick days

Your employees are the backbone of your company, and you should take every opportunity to make your benefits plan do more for them.

3. Am I missing valuable savings opportunities in my benefits plan?

Now’s the time to start working with your adviser to examine potential savings opportunities that might have opened up in the healthcare supply chain since your last renewal. For example, a new outpatient surgery center in your area could give your employees an alternative to the hospital, potentially saving you thousands of dollars if one of your workers needs knee surgery. As the supply chain evolves, your plan should adjust accordingly if you want to reap all the savings it has to offer.

2. Can I trust that my adviser is doing everything possible to save me money?

Traditionally, benefits brokers work on commission; their focus is to get you to renew your plan at the end of the year while convincing you that they’ve kept your premium increase as low as possible. While this system is great for the brokers, insurance companies, and providers, it’s not great for business owners.

Working with an adviser who offers a performance guarantee is a far more effective way to ensure that you’re getting the best benefits for the lowest cost. Because your adviser’s pay depends on the results they can achieve for you, they’re incentivized to work harder to create more savings within your plan.

1. Is my benefits plan serving as a tool to help my company grow?

You’re doing yourself a disservice if you treat your plan as just another expense to check off at the end of every year. Approach your renewal with the mindset that your benefits plan can be used to give your business a competitive edge in your industry. Your adviser should work with your company’s C-suite to help you discover how the savings created through your plan can be used to build up other parts of your business. If your benefits plan isn’t serving as a strategic advantage for your company, that needs to change when you renew.

An opportunity for change

Your renewal is an opportunity for growth both within your benefits plan and for your business as a whole. Letting your plan evolve with your company can create bigger savings for you and happier, healthier employees.

Contact me today to learn more about how to make your renewal a catalyst for positive change in your business.

Employee Benefits

Why You Should Never Neglect Primary Care Coverage In Your Benefits Plan

by Jim Blachek
December 3, 2019

Giving your employees better access to primary care can add significant value to your benefits plan. Many businesses neglect not only the importance of primary care benefits, but also the creative solutions that can give their workers a better experience while saving the company money. By considering direct primary care as a tool in your benefits package, you can give your business a competitive edge in the hiring market and cut costs at the same time.

Avoiding the ER

Including primary care in your business’ insurance plan is a strategy that can ultimately save you tens of thousands of dollars per year. In 2015, the John Hopkins School of Public Health (JHSPH) found that the average cost of a primary care visit is $160, which is significantly lower than the average outpatient emergency room visit cost of $1,233 (according to the NCBI) and the average hospital stay of $10,000 (according to the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project).

Giving employees better primary care coverage can help them manage chronic conditions and help their doctors detect potential health problems before they become serious. For example, an employee who’s at risk for diabetes can get the guidance and treatment they need from their primary care physician instead of waiting until they’re on the verge of losing a limb. The preventative and maintenance services that primary care provides can help you reduce costs while keeping your employees healthy.

More Tools to Cut Costs

Your insurance plan doesn’t have to cover primary care in order for your employees to receive it. In fact, taking insurance companies out of the equation entirely and paying for your employees’ primary care yourself can help you save money in the long run without compromising on care for your workers.

Direct primary care is one of the many tools your adviser can implement to help you get the most from your benefits plan while paying less. Research by the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine (JABFM) shows that direct primary care costs an average of only $77 per patient per month, or $924 per year. In other words, it would take about a decade of direct primary care payments to equal just one average hospital visit. Because business owners pay the provider directly instead of going through their insurance company, they can also spend less than they would have if the employee had filed a claim for each PCP visit.

More Options for a Healthier Workforce

Your adviser can help you determine whether your employees’ primary care coverage should be included in your insurance plan or handled directly. To invest in this crucial step of the healthcare process is to invest in the long-term wellbeing of both your workers and your business as a whole, and your adviser can help you develop the tools necessary to deliver quality primary care to your workers at a lower cost to you.

Contact me today to learn more about how to build better primary health care coverage for your employees.

Employee Benefits

How Specialists Can Help Your Adviser Cook Up The Perfect Benefits Plan

by Dynamic Benefit Solutions
October 15, 2019

Building a high-quality, cost-effective benefits plan requires putting a lot of pieces together in exactly the right way, and when you’re searching for an adviser, you should look for someone who knows how those pieces fit best for your business. A great adviser won’t assume that they know everything about every aspect of the healthcare industry, but they will know how to find the right industry experts and bring them together to build unique solutions for your company.

Here’s why you should always work with an adviser who wants to build the perfect benefits team:

THE MISSING INGREDIENTS

The healthcare industry is a massive, complex machine with countless moving parts. A great adviser will know how all those parts work together to help the machine function properly, but they’re unlikely to know everything about the parts themselves.

This concept is the same in virtually any other field as well. A bakery manager, for example, knows how to make customers happy by combining great food with great service. In the kitchen, though, the bakers are the ones mixing the right ingredients together and heating them at the perfect temperature for the perfect amount of time. And of course, the bakers’ success relies on the skills and knowledge of the people growing the ingredients and manufacturing the ovens.

Just like customers at a bakery, your job as an employer isn’t to worry about all the smaller processes going on in the background of your benefits plan. If you have a great adviser, they’ll put the perfect team together so you can relax and enjoy the final product.

CONNECTING THE CONNECTIONS

Your adviser doesn’t need to know how to perform surgery in order to be great at their job. Instead, they should be experts in connecting the healthcare specialists who can optimize the quality of your plan. This means that your adviser should be able to:

  • Be aware of the areas in which they need specialists’ advice
  • Know where to look for subject matter experts
  • Understand how to apply the specialists’ advice to reduce costs and improve the quality of your plan

This is why finding an adviser who understands the healthcare supply chain is crucial to the success of your own plan. By seeking out the right experts and being willing to team up with them, your adviser can create a team of specialists who can maximize the positive impact of your plan at every point, from pharmaceuticals to benefits administration to primary care.

NO MORE KNOW-IT-ALLS

Don’t be fooled by brokers who claim to be experts in every area of the benefits industry. In fact, being unwilling to ask questions or seek outside help should be a major red flag in your search for an adviser. Can you imagine the chaos if the aforementioned bakery manager tried to fix a faulty oven instead of calling in a trained repairman? A broker who makes decisions about your plan without consulting specialists could have the same effect on your plan, burning up your savings opportunities and charring the quality of your employees’ care.

Advisers who search for specialists to partner with are simply ensuring that you get the very best from your plan. The healthcare supply chain is long and complicated, and your adviser will have more success managing it effectively if they can consult with the experts within it.

A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS & SAVINGS

Being willing to admit when expert advice is needed can be one of the most important qualities your adviser can have. By identifying how specialists could help your plan and making the right connections, your adviser avoids the toxic trap of assuming that their existing knowledge is all that’s needed to optimize your plan. The end result is likely to be a pretty sweet plan for both your business and your employees.

Contact us today to learn more about how teaming up with healthcare specialists can help your adviser make the most out of your plan.

Employee Benefits

Why Understanding Your Adviser’s Mission is Crucial to an Effective Benefits Plan

by Dynamic Benefit Solutions
October 2, 2019

Many business owners see their benefits plan as just another annual expense. The truth, however, is that your company’s plan is a deeply personal investment, and your adviser should treat it as such. When choosing to work with an adviser, you and your business deserve better than whichever broker can offer you the “least expensive” increase on your renewal. Instead, find out what your prospective adviser’s mission is, and see if it aligns with your goals. If you and your adviser see eye to eye on what your plan should be doing for your employees, the results could include dramatic growth for your business over time.

Here’s why you should always learn about your adviser’s mission before deciding to work with them:

Prioritizing People

While, yes, your plan should help you create savings to help your business grow, your adviser should be focused on building a benefits plan that takes care of your employees. At its core, the healthcare industry is about keeping people healthy, and your adviser should be focused on creating a plan that reflects that by providing care that’s:

  • High-quality – Your adviser shouldn’t cut corners just to save you money if it means compromising your employees’ health.
  • Affordable – Great care is only great if your employees can get it without sacrificing their financial wellbeing in the process.
  • Accessible – If your employees can’t use their benefits because their providers are too far away or they’re worried about taking time off work to go to the doctor, their health may suffer as a result.

Choosing an adviser who sees your employees’ health and happiness as the ultimate goal can make a huge difference in how your plan impacts your business, and you should establish whether or not your employees are part of their mission before signing a contract.

The Same Vision

Even if you and your adviser have the same overarching goals in mind, you may still be a poor fit for each other. Once you’ve established that you and your adviser are on the same page regarding why you want to build a better benefits plan, you should have a discussion about what it’s going to take to achieve those goals. Talk about what your other goals are for your business. How do you want to see it grow? How much will your adviser be involved in the process? How much are you willing to change your current plan to see the results you’re hoping for?

This can be a tough conversation to have with a prospective adviser, but it will reveal whether you see eye-to-eye on how your benefits plan can be used as a strategic advantage for your business. For example, if a prospective broker is only willing to meet with you once a year when it’s time to renew your plan, it can indicate that they’re not as invested in their mission as they need to be to help your business grow. However, if you meet with an adviser who proves that they’re dedicated to their mission by meeting with you throughout the year and offering a performance guarantee, you may be on the right track to forming a great benefits team.

Vision, Mission, Values.

A Plan You Can Get Behind

Making sure you and your adviser are walking the same path isn’t just important so you feel comfortable about who you’re working with – it’s crucial to making your benefits plan as effective as possible. Even if your adviser provides you with the best tools and strategies they have at their disposal, they won’t work if you and your employees don’t buy in to what your adviser tells you.

By making sure you and your adviser have the same mission, you’ll feel more comfortable following your adviser’s recommendations. Your employees will then follow your example and become more engaged in their plan, using the tools your adviser provides to help create savings for both themselves and the business. By simply working with an adviser whose mission you believe in, you can create a chain reaction that can help your business save tens of thousands of dollars every year.

Putting Passion Into Your Plan

A broker who sees your plan as nothing but paperwork and dollar signs can’t take your business where you want it to go. By working with an adviser who prioritizes your employees’ care and has the same goals for your plan as you do, you’ll be on your way to having a benefits plan that you and your employees will be eager to work with, setting your workers and your company up for success.

Contact us today to learn more about how an adviser who fits your business can give you a benefits plan you can believe in.

Employee Benefits

How A Positive Approach Can Help You Solve Your Benefits Challenges

by Dynamic Benefit Solutions
August 1, 2019

When you’re spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on benefits and seeing unimpressive results, being discouraged and disappointed is completely reasonable. Great healthcare has the potential to bring a lot of positive effects to your business, including improved employee retention rates, better talent recruitment, and reduced absenteeism. In order to receive the maximum impact, though, you need to stop settling for what your current benefits plan is and start imagining what it could be.

A positive mindset is one of the most important qualities an employer can possess when searching for ways to improve their plan, and here’s why:

REJECTING AN UNDESIRABLE STANDARD

In life and in the benefits industry, you should never settle for less than you deserve. That’s just what many business owners are doing when it comes to their benefits plans, though. For years, employers have endured paying 5-6 percent more for their plans with each renewal, even though the quality of their plan has stayed the same or even decreased. There are better options out there, but many business owners remain stuck in this benefits rut, convinced that this standard is truly the best that they can get.

In order to achieve better outcomes for your plan (and your business), you must first decide that you, your employees, and your company deserve better than the suboptimal status quo that so many employers settle for. By raising the bar for what you want out of your benefits plan, you take the first step towards turning your plan’s potential into an improved reality.

THE HOPE FOR SOMETHING BETTER

Teaming up with the right benefits adviser is crucial for a benefits plan that can help your business grow. Your adviser’s emphasis on a positive outlook for your plan is just as important as your own desire to search for better options, and you should never settle for a broker who tries to convince you that the plan you have is the best you can get.

An optimistic adviser will:

  • Listen to and understand your current challenges – Understanding your starting point is the first step to moving forward, and a great adviser will take the time to learn about your current struggles so they can offer a personalized solution instead of a one-size-fits-all “fix.”
  • Offer creative and innovative solutions – Big improvements usually require big changes. A broker who suggests small tweaks for your plan may sound like the safer option, but the results they deliver will likely keep your plan stagnant.
  • Provide flexibility – As your business evolves over time, so should your benefits plan. An adviser with a positive outlook will constantly be looking for ways for you to get the most out of your plan, and that means working with you year-round, not just when it’s time to renew.

By working with an adviser who shares your own hope for your benefits plan, you take a huge step closer to a plan that can become a strategic advantage for your business.

TOOLS FOR A FIGHTING CHANCE

Your adviser may not be able to solve all your employees’ medical problems on their own, but they can provide tools to both improve the quality of their healthcare and make it more affordable. In order to optimize their solutions, though, you need to be able to:

  • Be open to unconventional ideas
  • Trust their approach
  • Implement their tools and strategies

The path to a benefits plan that can help your business reach its full potential can only be paved with a willing, enthusiastic attitude from both you and your adviser. If your adviser can develop a plan and you can take the necessary steps to implement it into your business, you’ll be well on your way to giving your employees high-quality, cost-effective care that can drastically improve their quality of life.

LOOKING FORWARD, NEVER BACK

Don’t despair when low-quality, high-cost benefits are no longer sustainable for your business. Instead, get excited about all the possibilities an improved benefits plan could offer your company. By rejecting the status quo in the benefits industry, working with an adviser who has high hopes for your future, and being willing to implement the tools and strategies they provide you, you can transform your plan from a burdensome expense into a great strategic opportunity. The desire for better benefits can blossom into one of the best decisions you could make for your business.

Contact us today to learn more about how a positive outlook on your benefits plan can manifest into big savings.

Employee Benefits

Why You Need To Be Open To Change To Improve Your Benefits Plan

by Dynamic Benefit Solutions
July 1, 2019

Changing the norm can be scary in any industry. In healthcare, however, it’s practically unwelcome. Business owners have continuously accepted the norm in benefits spending, paying more every year without seeing a noticeable increase in the quality of their benefits. This practice would be swiftly rejected in any other industry, but many business owners are more comfortable continuing to waste money on ineffective plans than saving money by changing the way they handle their benefits plan.

If you’re unhappy with your current plan, but hesitant to try something new, here’s why you should open your mind to big changes for your plan:

Unsustainable Outcomes

Health insurance costs have been steadily rising for years now, even as the quality of benefits employers receive stays the same or even decreases. Benefits are already one of the largest expenses for most businesses as it is, and if their costs continue to increase by 5 or 6 percent (as they have in recent years), employers will have to find a better solution or risk being run out of business by unaffordable benefits.

Many business owners, however, prefer to deal with the so-called “devil they know” than risk the potential consequences of big changes in their plan. By working with an adviser who offers innovative solutions to the problems associated with status-quo benefits plans, you can put yourself ahead of the competition while avoiding the dreaded annual cost increases that come with most of today’s benefits plans. You’ll just need to be open to the idea of change.

A Plan Your Employees Can Use

A benefits plan that’s “great” on paper, but unaffordable to your employees, is not a great plan at all. Many employers have been led to believe that the plans their brokers are selling them are designed with their employees in mind. In reality, though, many employees may be unable to use any of their plan due to:

  • Low savings – In 2017, GoBankingRates found that over half of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings. With not much money left for emergencies, many employees may be unwilling to take time off work or pay for doctor’s appointments.
  • High deductibles – Even if their plan covers everything, workers often still need to pay thousands of dollars toward their deductible before their insurance starts to pay for their healthcare. With almost 40 percent of Americans having $0 in savings, a $3,000 deductible can be completely unaffordable.
  • Costly prescription drugs – A plan that doesn’t completely cover your employees’ medication can leave them hurting for money. A drug that costs $60 a week will take over $3,000 out of your employee’s funds by the end of the year, and many people may choose to simply forego or ration their medication instead.

Building a plan that serves your employees can require making some big alterations in your existing plan. But ultimately, you’ll be rewarded with a much happier and healthier workforce if you’re willing to take the leap.

One Step At a Time

A great adviser won’t force you to make a bunch of big changes right from the start. Instead, they’ll ease you into your new plan step by step, taking the time to explain your options and answer your questions. They’ll work to understand your company’s unique needs and learn more from you to figure out how to help you achieve your goals for the business. Some big changes will likely be necessary if you want dramatic results, but your adviser should be there with you every step of the way to ensure that you’re comfortable with the decisions you’re making for your plan. Change can be intimidating, especially in an industry that so strongly resists it, so working with the right adviser can be crucial in helping you feel satisfied with your new plan.

A Path To a Better Plan

Your benefits plan won’t be completely transformed overnight. Even big changes take time to implement, but if you’re willing to begin the process and work with a patient and understanding adviser, you can shrug off the status quo cost increases and end up with a flourishing business and satisfied employees.

Contact us today to learn more about how changing up your benefits plan can be the best decision you could make for your business.

Employee Benefits

How To Know If You’ve Found The Right Adviser For Your Benefits Journey

by Dynamic Benefit Solutions
May 1, 2019

The journey to a more cost-effective benefits plan can be a long one, and if you’re working with a broker who’s a poor fit for your business, that journey can become even longer (and more expensive). Finding an adviser who suits your company’s individual needs, however, can be a whole challenge of its own. You don’t want to waste thousands of dollars working with a broker who ultimately fails to create savings within your benefits plan, but determining whether or not an adviser is a good fit for your business during your first few conversations isn’t always easy.

Before you sign that contract and welcome a new benefits adviser onto your team, ask yourself if they seem willing and able to provide these crucial components to a great relationship between a benefits adviser and a business owner:

The Right Solution, Not a Quick Fix

Your benefits plan is one of your business’ largest expenses, and finding an effective solution to improve it isn’t likely to happen the first time you meet with your adviser. Still, many brokers try this approach – they have a product or strategy that they feel is perfect for your business, and they may try to push you into accepting it before they’ve even gotten to know your company’s unique situation. No matter how they try to convince you, though, a one-size-fits-all method will rarely take you on the best path to optimal savings for your plan.

Your adviser should demonstrate patience and attentiveness, getting to know the individual needs of your business before proposing any grand solutions. Ideally, they’ll have a variety of tools and strategies at their disposal and be able to adjust them as your company’s needs change with time. If they can’t customize their approach, you’re likely to lose out on your benefits plan’s true potential.

A Continued Conversation

Your relationship with your adviser should be just that: a relationship. They may understand the benefits side of business, but you understand your business. You should be asking each other questions throughout the process to ensure that they’re the right person to handle your benefits plan. Your discussions with your adviser should never feel like a one-sided sales pitch, and you should search elsewhere if they’re displaying red flags like:

  • Pitching solutions before listening to your challenges
  • Being unable or unwilling to answer your questions about their process
  • Not offering a performance-based guarantee for their services

Just like the dating process that comes before marriage, asking questions and getting to know your adviser before you commit to them is crucial for an outcome that positively impacts both of you.

Investing in You

The money you spend on your benefits plan is an investment in your business and employees, and your adviser should treat their relationship with you as an investment as well. Before you even sign a contract, a good adviser will demonstrate their willingness to invest in their relationship with you. If an adviser you’re considering working with is happy to take time out of their day to answer your questions and get to know your business’ unique needs, this is a good sign that they want to build the right relationship with you to help achieve the best outcome for your plan.

Another easy way to find out if your adviser is willing to invest in you is by asking if they offer a performance-based guarantee. While no broker or adviser works for free, a performance guarantee guarantees that your adviser is willing to bet their own paycheck on their ability to provide you with the best service available. This offer ensures that you and your adviser are on this journey together, and they’ll only succeed if you do, too.

The Fit Your Business Deserves

The first few conversations you have with a prospective benefits adviser can reveal a lot about what they’ll be able to do for your business. If your potential adviser can take the time to develop a personalized solution for your plan, provide an ongoing two-sided conversation about their ideas and your needs, and demonstrate an investment in their work for you, they may just be the perfect fit for your company’s benefits plan.

Contact us today to learn more about how an adviser that fits your business can help your company grow.

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