Airfare for one with room and
accommodations for two:
$85,000 in
annualized premium
Airfare and accommodations for two:
$110,000 in
annualized premium
Airfare, accommodations and three
extra nights on Companion’s dime:
$170,000 in
annualized premium
The
Details
1. Dental, Vision and LTD count for $.50; Life,
STD $1.00
2.Qualification
is for effective dates before January 1, 2015
3.Voluntary,
voluntary, voluntary!
4.Examples—
Agent sells a $100,000
dental case. Counts for $50,000. He sells a small case but four lines for
$30,000. The life and STD count for full
and the LTD and vision is half.
BPI calls the agent and
reminds her she is close! She sells a
$35,000 voluntary STD case and qualifies!
Studies have shown that more Americans purchase life insurance through their employers than they do as individuals as has traditionally been the case for generations. This has placed a much bigger onus on employers and agents to answer this demand with the very best in voluntary life contracts and carriers.
What are the very best voluntary life benefits you sell? The answer is easy, they must include:
1. The ability to port or convert the life insurance if/when employment terminates (for whatever reason)
2. Limited benefit reductions as a member ages
3. Generous guarantee issue amounts
4. The ability to buy up each year at open enrollment
5. A competitive price
I find there are times the very best of our voluntary life contracts become an issue. Employees don't always understand the benefit they thought they had purchased has reduced 35% to 50% just as it has increased significantly in premium.
This Term to 100 product offers employees the chance to purchase true long term protection they can rely on well into retirement.
I have admitted many times before that I am a work in progress when it comes to critical illness and accident policies. Frankly, there was a time in my career when I thought they were a rip off.
The past few years, I have seen the power of the pay out of critical illness and how it can really help someone in the time of need. I have seen the power of the revenue and what agents have done to supplement enrollment services for their clients. And finally I have seen the 'stickiness' of clients to their agents who consult from a holistic approach in all facets of a benefits plan.
If you are someone who can't get past the idea that these products are an unnecessary expense to the working folks struggling to pay their employee contribution, the latest trend study from MetLife is a great read. The fact of the matter is this--you may feel those products aren't necessary but employees do not agree. Study after study reveals that employees do indeed crave those benefits and agents and employers will do well to deliver these benefits in an organized and structured environment.
Here is a link to the article and here is a brief recap. I hope you find it useful!
Benefit Profiles Inc is dedicated to offering outstanding solutions for agents and I'm proud to report we've found a new one--telemedicine.
Telemedicine has been most sold through TPA's in the jumbo group space or bundled with discount programs direct to consumers in voluntary or individual enrollment platforms. It has really remained on the fringe of the benefits spectrum however til just recently.
Ultimately it's a way to access real, board-certified, American (even Michigan) doctors over the phone 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The most common ways we see the service is through a phone consultation about typical items addressed in the PCP or urgent care center. However members do consult through the web app using Facetime or Skype or they even consult over a secure email system.
The real key though that excites employees is the doctors can prescribe medications like antibiotics, low grade pain killers or even emergency fills for a maintenance medication. Employers like it because they can see real data about utilization and how many office, urgent care and emergency room visits they are eliminating from their experience.
I am a member and the last time I used the service I sent an email through my web login describing my condition an indicated I wanted to talk to a doctor. My phone rang, I talked to a Michigan-based doc for ten minutes who diagnosed my issue then sent a script to my pharmacy. The entire transaction took me fifteen minutes.
The service through Benefit Profiles is Teladoc (see the video), the nation's leader in telemedicine. It has been around the longest and has the most members. The cost for this service is $3.50 PEPM for groups below 500 and $3.00 PEPM for groups above 500. For this rate, members and their families can access doctors 24/7 with no extra copayments!
I think you'll agree that with the rapidly changing plan designs driven by cost of medical and the ACA, a value packed PEPM that can positively affect a group's actual claims experience but also the experience of the members to their benefit package is indeed a solid solution. I'd love to talk more about this and the several other ideas we have about structuring a holistic approach to employee benefits. Please don't hesitate to contact me to learn more!
Check out this very good article from BenefitsPro magazine. You'll notice the article highlights a telemedicine firm out of Chicago that sells the service fro $6.00 PEPM. That seems to be a common price across the market.
Our BPI webpage on telemedicine features marketing items and flyers regarding the benefit.
This video from Teladoc outlines the 5 reasons for employers to consider the benefit:
I’m sure I don’t need to educate you on the many varied fees
associated now with the PPACA.However,
some of you may have experienced a phone call from Companion clients asking
what the new line item is that has showed up in their January bills.Dental and vision plans are considered part of the health industry and therefore they are responsible for an industry fee just
like the health carriers.
The fee is based on each carrier’s share of the overall
premium base and it is assessed relative to insured plans.Each carrier calculates a bit differently
what their share is they have to pay and how this will be reflected in
rates.Below is an outline of our dental and vision carriers, their fees and how this will be passed on to the members.
·Companion
Life--Companion has separated its industry fee as a separate line item on the bills. However, its renewal and new business proposal rates include the fee so there are no surprises when the final bill arrives. The Michigan Medicaid Claims tax is a separate line item on the Companion bills aside from this ACA industry fee.
·Kansas
City Life--Both the ACA and Michigan Medicaid Claims Tax are included in KCL's rates.
·MetLife/MMA--The ACA industry fee is included in new business and renewal rates. The Medicaid tax is billed separately every quarter.
·Delta
Dental--The ACA industry fee is included in new business and renewal rates. The Medicaid tax is billed separately monthly.
Clear as mud huh?If
you have any further questions or want to discuss these fees over a coffee,
sandwich or a fifth of whiskey and pitcher of beer, contact me and I’ll
be happy to come see you!
Those Pesky Kids and
Their Mandated Dental Plans. . .
Well, it’s been about five months since BPI embarked on a
fact finding mission to figure out the pediatric dental benefit and how it
relates to our dental plans and small group clients here in Michigan.I’m proud to say we’ve really been able to
offer great solutions to our agents in the small market to satisfy this
requirement.
To give you an update, our wheelhouse carriers to satisfy
this requirement so far have been Delta Dental, MetLife and the MMA.
We have used Delta to offer child only dental benefits down
to as low as a group of one.Seems like
a lot of administration to cover one kid?I was worried about this ,too, but Lena and Bobbie have found the process
quite easy to complete with Delta.We’re
also finding Delta is a great takeover benefit for current dental plans who are
not currently compliant.Delta’s rates
are very competitive in the small market and their plan designs are flexible so
it’s an easy fix. You can typically leave
the life, disability and vision with the current carrier and address the bigger
issues of the medical renewal without too much interruption on ancillary.
MetLife and MMA have been great options as well to replace
non-compliant carriers.Their rates are competitive and they offer the convenience to replace a full ancillary
suite with their robust offerings of life, disability and VSP.We’re seeing success with Met, especially with
the dental HMO or MAC plans ,as the rates are very attractive and the Met PPO is
so strong in our regions.Don’t believe
me on that?Access their network here.
With both Met and Delta, we have the ability to quote the
plans in our office and we can turn them around quickly.Need something in a pinch, contact Bobbie. Phone is best if you need a rush.
As for your business with Companion Life and Kansas City
Life, they are still not certified to sell the pediatric benefit.However, they both have assured me they have
begun the process to be certified for 2015.So if you’re nervous about your renewals the middle and end of this year,
know these carriers will be fully compliant by January 1. As the year goes on, we'll continue to update you on our progress with these benefits and to make it fairly painless for you and your small groups to comply.
Still playing catch up with this portion of the essential benefits and what it means?Please reference our previous blogs on the topic.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Maui!—Enough Said
This has been the kind of winter season that only Midwesterners can handle.It’s the kind of cold that hurts.So I know it’s hard to do right now, but I’d like you to try to picture yourself lying by the pool or on the beach.It’s 80 degrees and a gentle breeze rolls off the Pacific.You take a sip of a refreshing beverage of your choice, lay back and relax. That is the type of experience we’d love to enjoy with you at the Ritz in Kapalua, Maui in June 2015!Companion is famous for hosting the best getaway incentive trips and they aren’t too tough to obtain.Find all the details here. You certainly can see the pictures here in this blog but if you’d like to get a feel for the resort, click here.
Wondering how you could get there?Consider voluntary!We find voluntary dental, std and life have really helped agents achieve the necessary credits.Contact me and we’ll meet to discuss a strategy!
$85,000 in
annualized premium
