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3 CUTTING EDGE EMPLOYEE
BENEFITS TRENDS THAT YOU
NEED TO KNOW BEFORE
YOUR COMPETITION DOES.

You are a highly valued resource to your clients

You are a highly valued resource to your clients

As their broker, your role is essential in helping them safeguard the heart and soul of their company…their employees.

Each and every day you go above and beyond for your clients. With your knowledge and experience, you carefully assess their needs and goals to ensure they have the best employee benefits products for their business.

Your clients chose you because they believe that you will always have their company’s best interest in mind, and you know that staying on top of the latest industry trends will help keep your clients ahead of the game.

The landscape of employee benefits is rapidly evolving thanks to technology and unpredictable shifts, such as the succession of impacts seen from the pandemic.

In this article, we will cover three cutting edge employee benefits trends that you will be glad you know. These trends have the potential to profoundly affect the health and well-being of your clients’ employees and their families—the very heart and soul of every company.

#1: Level-Funded and Reference-Based Policies

Providing employees with vital benefits, like health insurance, is a continuous battle for businesses, especially small ones. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), more people have access to more affordable insurance. Unfortunately, “affordable” is a relative term.

While the ACA has pros, small business owners have found it increasingly difficult to find anything affordable about it. Ever increasing ACA rates have cast coverage into the unaffordable category for many small employers.

The good news is there are emerging options to help make employee benefits affordable.

Level-funded and reference-based policies offer a bridge to affordability and an opportunity for annual savings. They operate with a level premium, meaning businesses can ensure the benefits they offer don’t spiral into unaffordable premiums.

The Major Benefits

Like large-group plans, level-funded plans are underwritten. As a broker, you have the unique (and pivotal) ability to not only advise but also shop around.

When presenting level-funded and reference-based policy options, be sure to focus on the highlights. There are three distinct benefits that make them powerful options for smaller companies:

  • Cost Savings: Level-funded plans offer significant cost savings in comparison to ACA plans because they are medically underwritten. Businesses with healthier groups of employees may qualify for substantially more affordable premiums and see money back at the end of the year with this type of policy. For groups with fewer healthy employees, level-funded plans offer stop-loss coverage, which means the employer needn’t worry about paying more in costs for the year despite an employee becoming seriously injured or ill. The insurance company pays for the claims that exceed a certain level.
  • Self-Funding: Claims are paid for in part by what the group pays in. This self-funded premise allows the plan to be a part of ERISA rules and regulations, which paves the way for better benefits and (sometimes) significant savings. The employer will retain a set annual claims amount, and the stop-loss coverage will ensure this amount does not increase for the year, regardless of a surprise injury or illness that could potentially be financially disastrous without coverage.
  • Design: Level-funded and reference-based policies open the door to potential refunds of what is paid monthly. For example, if a business experiences a healthy year and does not use all its allotted coverage for claims, the unused funds may be refunded. Some companies refund 100% of the unused funds, others only a portion. This is where you, as a broker, can find the best plan design for your client.

Need more selling points for level-funded and reference-based policies?
Speak with a member of our broker support team.

Schedule a free strategy session

#2: Voluntary Benefits

Have you discussed voluntary benefits with your clients? Brokers versed in and offering these benefits can assist their clients by:

  • Enhancing medical coverage
  • Filling gaps a traditional plan won’t cover
  • Giving employees the ability to customize their benefits
  • Providing added protection at no cost to the employer

Most employers believe they offer benefits that meet their employees’ needs; however, employees often feel like their needs are not being fully or adequately met. There is a disconnect between workers and managers, which is where you come in.

Employers often believe voluntary benefits will cost them big.

In truth, supplemental benefits can be added at no direct cost to your clients. For employees, voluntary benefits offer access to group rates that are often bigger and better than plans via a third party.

It’s a win-win that will put your clients out in front, making them more appealing not just to their current employees but also prospective ones.

The most popular voluntary benefits include:

  • Accident
  • Critical illness
  • Short-term disability
  • Term life

Financial Education Voluntary benefit eligibility in influenced by federal, state and/or local laws. There are also other eligibility factors to consider. Are you well-versed in the ins and outs of voluntary benefits and how they can benefit your client?

Schedule a free strategy session

#3 Financial Services

Financial wellness is becoming as important as physical and mental health. More than ever, tools designed to help make financial decisions are in high demand.

It’s a fact; financial health has been a major concern of your client’s employees since before the pandemic. The impact of Covid-19 has only served to increase worry, sending their employees on the hunt for employers who take safeguarding their well-being—in all its forms—seriously.

In addition to customized policies, brokers like you have a special secret weapon up their sleeve for exactly this situation. You will be your client’s hero.

Bring your clients best-in-class financial wellness tools with FreedomU

From trending financial topics to personalized courses and powerful tools, FreedomU is dedicated to supporting the very best in financial wellness.

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2014: $250 billion per year is what team member financial stress costs your clients’ companies.

By keeping your client’s employees in the driver’s seat of their finances, FreedomU helps keep them on top of all of life’s money matters. The result? Less stress and improved well-being, for starters.

Bring your clients best-in-class financial wellness tools with FreedomU
Employee financial wellness impacts job performance

Employee financial wellness impacts job performance.

An employee living in constant financial stress presents multiple business risks. From decreases in general productivity to the development of health conditions that will impact the employer, poor financial wellness inevitably impacts everyone involved.

When your clients provide their employees 24/7 access to the best financial tools and services, they are smartly investing in their company’s future and poising it for success.

How can you experience the exciting financial tools and education that FreedomU will bring to your clients? You’ve got to see it to believe it!

Take FreedomU for a Test Drive

Find out how to give your clients access to financial wellness for their employees through FreedomU, call 757-320-4847 and speak with Ross Oftedahl, Broker Sales Manager, or complete the form below.

Are you ready to take your business to a new level of success and profitability?

Today’s benefits packages offer more than ever before. That means that you can offer your clients the best of the best, and you need a general agency that can provide you top notch support and resources. With these, you will become invaluable to your clients and crucial to their future success.

We invite you to connect with one of our broker growth ambassadors and supercharge your business, making it more profitable than ever before. Choice Broker Service is your one-stop-shop for broker services, technology solutions, training and more.

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