Don’t Shoot the Messenger: Your Medical Premiums Are Going Up

In your role as an insurance broker, you often have to deliver news that your clients might not want to hear – like "your premiums are going up." Our recent blog post on premium and deductible increases talked about how changes in health reform impacted medical insurance costs, with many states seeing significant increases.

How do you deliver this news to your group? What is the best way to deal with these changes and communicate them to your clients? How do you break it to them that their medical premiums are going up?

Come armed with solutions.

It’s easy to point out the problems to your clients, but your role as their experienced insurance broker is to find solutions. Once you receive a renewal – and it’s a substantial increase – begin thinking of ways to solve this problem for your client before picking up the phone. Don’t just send off an email with the increased rate; be sure to include a plan of action. The conversation with your client is more productive when your present alternatives.

Solutions can include:

• Alternate quotes from other carriers
• Options to reduce premium costs in other areas (like finding a more affordable dental plan or vision benefit)
• Educate your groups about premium increases in your state.
• Go back and negotiate with the carrier to see if they can take a point or two off in an effort to keep the group business.
• Provide alternate plan designs – perhaps switching to a plan that offers open-access HMO benefits can reduce costs while offering comparable levels of benefits and out-of-pocket expenses to their employees. Get creative and think about alternate ways to solve this problem.

Give them the facts.

Before forwarding off an email with a significant rate increase, take the time to give your client the facts. Help them understand the changes in reform and in the insurance landscape that might have led to these changes. Did claims costs drive the premium increase? Be informative and consultative. The more information you give, the more your clients understand about the situation at hand.

Don’t delay.

If your group’s premiums are going up, don’t wait to break the news. Chances are that your client and HR manager is going to want to know about Plan B…and Plan C. So, share the news early on to allow for the time it can take find alternate solutions to suit your client’s needs. Better yet, before you expect a renewal, preempt the rate by getting some quotes and putting your Plan B into action. This will allow you to have a big picture view of options for your clients…and they’ll appreciate you even more for being proactive instead of rate reactive. 

As your client’s valued benefits broker, let your experience shine through by giving top-notch service and guiding your clients through rate increases with ease. The more prepared you are, the more your group will lean on you for future business and be apt to recommend you to their peers.

Any questions about your current Solstice products? Login to your portal on https://www.solsticemarketplace.com/ 

Want to start selling Solstice? Give us a call at 877-760-2247 or email us at sales@solsticebenefits.com