The fears are:
- Agents will be cut out as the middleman on insurance sales.
- Government insurance will be purchased with little to no commission paid to the agent.
- Government regulations will determine how much commission an agent can make if they are able to make commission.
- Government Insurance coverage options will dilute to a form so simple, agents will not be necessary. Hahahahahahahahaha. Sorry, had to laugh at the words Government and simple in the same sentence.
Ok, lets assume that all of these concerns are correct (which they might just be). Should benefits agents get licenses to sell property and casualty or start looking for a Government job (250,000 new jobs expected for administration of Government health insurance)?
Well, if you want to hedge your bets, go ahead. But I think the better opportunity is between the lines in this bill.
The opportunities to take advantage:
- Did you notice it is a "Government" program. Soooo, administration, bureaucracy, complexity, compliance, reporting, documentation... sorry, I started getting dizzy. Read between the lines.
- Did I mention the bill is 2014 pages and the additional documents will probably double that number. How many Business executives do you think will read the bill. None of the people who passed it did. And if they did, what chance would they have of understanding it? Read between the lines.
- Businesses are running leaner than ever. They are struggling to survive and they certainly don't have the staff to manage new regulations, compliance, reporting... oops, got dizzy again...(See above). Read between the lines.
- Businesses are running leaner than ever (did I mention that before?). What they really need is for people to be healthy and at work. You probably don't have time to read between the lines!
Personally, I think it is about time for EMPLOYEE BENEFITS brokers to start acting like their name. Yep, the Health Insurance sales people might want to start job hunting. But, if you are a true employee benefits consultant the opportunities are very big in the future.
Employee benefits consultants have an opportunity to create great value and get paid with this new law.
The products that people will be willing to pay for are:
- Health, wellness, and nutrition strategies that actually work.
- Employee compensation consulting including; rewards & incentives for healthy employees and penalties for unhealthy ones (within their control).
- Compliance with the new regulations.
- Reporting and documentation tracking.
- Consulting advice around creating competitive employee benefits packages and plans.
- Employee counseling for plan choice.
- Supplementary insurance coverages (see current Canadian Health Care program).
- Funding Advice and self insurance modeling.
- HSA and HRA modeling and advice.
- Managing and restructuring "Cadillac" Plans.
- Employment practices law assistance.
- Employee development and team training.
- Hiring practices and employee retention strategies.
This is a start. Businesses spend billions of dollars annually to comply with government regulations. The smart insurance agencies will figure out how to get some of those dollars.
So don't sell the practice too soon. Maybe a little adjustment of what you offer and package it to create a unique experience to help businesses navigate through a very uncertain future.
Hey, I have an idea... Someone could probably make money teaching others how to do this... hummmm?
Sitkins International and Benefits Growth Network!
