Success Strategies for Today’s Market Ryan Eaton, V.P. of MWG Broker Services In today's world, most people are looking for simple solutions to big problems. Most of us have learned, sometimes the hard way, it is usually not that easy…

In today's world, most people are looking for simple solutions to big problems. We believe, without dieting or exercise, a pill will help us lose weight overnight. We dream of choosing a winning investment which would provide lifelong financial security. We hope, by doing one sweet thing a day, our spouse or significant other will be happy with us forever. Most of us have learned, sometimes the hard way, it is usually not that easy.

It's pretty similar to the health insurance market. I am neither trying to give you a pill to make your ACA challenges go away, nor am I offering a single solution to put you head and shoulders above the rest. However, what I hope to do is give you strategies we have seen from top producers operating in nearly all 50 states. These strategies, if focused on effectively, will provide value to your clients while growing your business.

One consistency we have seen by top producers, is an understanding of their company's core strategy. They continue to look for ways to grow their service or product offerings while not straying too far away from their core competencies. An example may be an agency, which focuses primarily on health insurance and ancillary products, searching for a way to offer different Benefit Administrative Systems or ACA compliance strategies to their groups. This could also include trying new avenues of distribution in your market.

Another successful strategy we have seen over the last 15 years is filling in gaps of coverage the major medical plan discounts heavily. Please understand, we know this strategy varies by market, major medical plan designs, etc., but we have seen tremendous success when the spreads are available between low and high-deductible plans. If your groups favor low-deductible plans ($2,500 and under), select a high-deductible plan and add a supplemental plan which covers everything covered by major medical. There are many “GAP Plans" on the market, but most have exclusions. There are very few which cover everything major medical covers. The Premium Saver has been the solution for brokers from California to Florida by maintaining the same benefits of major medical, but lowering the overall cost by an average of 12%. This year alone, Premium Saver has increased new business by 40% across the country.

A lot of brokers struggle to comprehend how this plan can cover the benefits cheaper than the major medical. There are two big reasons which allow this coverage to be priced less:

This plan is not responsible for catastrophic claims like major medical insurance. These plans have short-tailed risks because the maximum benefit, in most of the current plans, is in the $6,000 range. Due to the catastrophic claims most major medical plans have the potential to cover, more is charged for the first $5,000 than needed.

The last strategy to cover is bundling products to lower costs. This has taken place for years in the property and casualty world with bundling home and auto or other group products, but for the most part, health companies have stayed away from offering discounts when products are bundled. If you do see something paired, usually one of the products is below par.

Recently, a new packaged plan has been developed which includes all A-rated carriers with top of the line recognition in their areas of expertise. This packaged program includes Delta Dental for dental insurance, VSP or Davis Vision for vision insurance, and Standard Life, AmFirst or Monitor for supplemental or gap coverage. You not only see cost savings, but also, all three are provided on the same bill so you access all three carriers through the same group portal for additions or changes. Yes, agents have access to this valuable tool, and you can submit all three group applications together by paper or spreadsheet. Soon there will be a top-tier life carrier which will offer even more simplicity for you and your clients. This isn't rocket science or some new strategy, just a little tweak to an existing process.

As Zig Ziglar said, “Most great ideas are only a 10% change of an existing idea”. As a final thought, remember, discovering a new spectacular idea is not the only way to reach success. Usually it comes by evaluating your core business and discovering little tweaks which will deliver large dividends.