01 May Marketing Your Benefits Plan – The Facts
It’s that time of the year when you get a call from your broker, informing you that the renewal for your Group Benefit Plan is in from the insurance provider!
Your presented renewal has a double-digit rate increase and your broker suggests that your only option to find a better deal is to carry out a marketing of your benefits to other insurance providers.
The marketing results come back with at least one quote that offers lower rates than what you are currently paying and it includes a long rate guarantee. Phew! You feel relieved that an insurance company came through with lower rates and the rate guarantee, to sweeten the deal.
Does this story sound familiar to you?
Lower rates and extended rate guarantees are only introductory offers. It is a tactic to get you to place your business with the insurance company. And what happens when the rate guarantee ends and it’s renewal time again? You will be faced with high increases to offset the introductory rates you were given, as the insurance provider needs to recoup their losses.
You may think that marketing your benefits again and again to find another introductory offer from a different insurance company is the answer. It isn’t. Insurers are starting to decline to quote when a plan is coming off a rate guarantee, requiring a minimum of three to five years of experience with one insurer, before considering to quote. They have realized that brokers are using frequent marketings merely as a ploy to control their clients investment.
It is time to break the cycle and realize that relying on rate manipulations and guarantees are a thing of the past. These conventional tactics are used in the absence of proactive benefits management.
FACT – Your plan design drives claims, and it is your claims + expenses that drive costs.
The key to a better and sustainable benefits plan is constant attention and care. Not just at renewal time, but 365 days a year. You need a full-time benefits division to manage your investment in benefits.
At JRP we manage your investment in benefits as if it was our own. As a boutique advisory firm, we offer leadership and advise that sets us apart from other brokers.
Our core approach includes:
CUSTOMIZED REPORTING
FUNDING OPTIONS
We specialize in self-funded benefit strategies & hybrid funding options.
CLIENT CARE
Proactive leadership and day-to-day support of your benefits investment.
CUSTOM PLAN DESIGNS
Introducing new and innovative plan designs to the Canadian marketplace. Unique and exclusive benefits you will not find anywhere else.
PHARMACEUTICAL SUBSIDIES
Integrating the free brand name drug manufacturer subsidy plans with private benefit programs.
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Improving efficiencies by removing unnecessary layers of cost and administration.
RISK MITIGATION
Through comprehensive risk liability assessments, we provide risk mitigation solutions that are not available within most traditional insurance environments.
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS
We provide customized employee communication strategies. As smart consumers, your employees can help significantly reduce your benefit costs.
PROVINCIAL HEALTHCARE COORDINATION
Lower claims equate to lower costs. Have you explored how to coordinate your privately funded prescription drug plan with Provincially funded health care?
Not only do we get you a fair price for your coverage, we also provide proactive benefits advice, worth switching brokers for.
YOU DESERVE MORE THAN YOU THINK®