In the movie Castaway, Chuck Noland’s plane crashes. He washes up on a deserted, tropical island, which ends up being his home for the next four years. During that time, he learns many skills for survival, including predicting the weather. The first full year was when he probably got a sense of what the weather was like on the island. By the second, he had enough data to compare and contrast the weather from the previous year with the current. And by the third or fourth year, he could probably confidently predict some things, which explains how he was able to get home. 

Like Chuck Noland, the more experience you have in the health care industry, the more you are able to identify trends, educate your clients and help them chart the waters that lie ahead. Here are some 2015 benefits trends insurance brokers should know: 

Health Care Consumerism

One of the predictions for 2015 is a greater shift to health care consumerism. In a broad sense, it is employees or consumers becoming the captains (or at least assistant captains) of their benefits ships. They are being asked to take up more responsibilities and make more decisions where their benefits are concerned; two trends that illustrate this are as follows:

• Voluntary benefits: This popular benefits trend gives employees partial or total financial responsibility for their benefits.
• Defined contribution: This type of plan gives purchasing power to consumers, by giving them a fixed amount of funds from which they get to purchase their benefits. 

As a tip for your groups, employers will also increasingly package employee insurance together (i.e., dental, vision, medical, long-term care and pet insurance). The advantage of grouping these diverse benefits together is that it helps companies retain, as well as attract talented employees.

Private Exchanges

Private exchanges are steadily on the rise and various reports indicate that by 2018, enrollment via private exchanges will likely surpass enrollment via state or federal exchanges. Its popularity is due to the many benefits it provides both for groups and consumers. Employer groups benefit from private exchanges in a number of ways, including the ability to offer a wider array of benefits to make their employees happy; this is accomplished without the administrative burdens to human resources departments (HR), thanks to private exchanges like the Solstice Marketplace, which offers single source billing. This results in increased employee loyalty. Additionally, private exchanges provide greater employee choice, employee assistance tools, time-saving technology for brokers and HR professionals and more.

Self-Service Technology

Human resource management is a complex role that has to balance the management of the everyday needs of employees, as well as long-term issues such as developing, retaining and attracting great talent. The sheer volume of what these and other responsibilities entail is one of the driving forces behind the growing interest and implementation of self-service technologies. So, as your group’s valued insurance broker, you can help them see how they and their employees benefit by transitioning to a self-service environment. Here are some of the benefits of self-service technology: 

• Empowers employees to handle their own human resources detail
• Increases employee satisfaction as a result of quick access to and the ability to make changes or adjustments to their personal human resources information
• Removes unnecessary HR steps, resulting in greater employee and manager service and satisfaction levels
• Automates administrative tasks, including payroll, time and attendance and training, therefore, saving employees time and the organization time and money
• Allows benefits administrators to spend more time on core business needs like leadership development and talent management
• Increases an organization’s ability to adapt to the needs of multiple social generations in the workplace
• Improves retention of the technologically-savvy millennials, who are most comfortable getting things done via mobile devices
• Improves workplace communication

Telehealth

A growing trend—especially in the proliferation of technology in the insurance industry, is telehealth. It removes the gap between patients and the medical system. It falls into two general categories, namely keeping and sending information (like radiographs) and live communication between health professionals, or health professionals and patients.

The following forecasts have been made about telehealth:

• It is predicted to grow to $1.9 billion in revenue, up from $240 million in 2013
• Half a billion smartphone users will be using health care apps in 2015
• It could save U.S. companies $6 billion

Outside of trying to plan an escape off a deserted island, people watch the weather to figure out how to dress, whether or not they should bring an umbrella or simply stay home. They want to be prepared for what’s ahead. Distinguish yourself as your group’s trusted adviser, by sharing with them benefits trends for 2015 and beyond. By doing this, you help them understand what to expect and how to prepare for the changing healthcare weather, confirming that you are an invaluable asset to their organization.