America's Benefit Specialist April 2023

VOLUNTARY DISRUPTION

BENEFITS AGENCY? NO. MARKETING AGENCY? YES! Medical insurance brokers have traditionally served as intermediaries between employers and insurance carriers, helping employers select and administer health insurance plans for their employees. However, in today’s rapidly changing healthcare landscape, brokers need to trans form themselves into more of a marketing agency to ensure they have the ability to thoroughly communicate with employees and properly educate them about their health insurance benefits. In recent years, there has been a shift toward consumer-driven healthcare, with employees playing a more active role in selecting and managing their health insurance plans. As a result, brokers need to take on a more proactive role in communicating with employees to help them understand their options, make informed decisions, and engage with all of their benefit options. To do this, brokers need to transform themselves into more of a marketing agency, with a focus on communication and education. This means developing targeted marketing campaigns to reach employees where they are, using a variety of channels such as text messaging, social media, mobile apps and even old-fashioned email. Brokers also need to consider investing in user-friendly tools and resources such as online portals, decision-support systems and custom benefit websites to help employees more thoroughly understand the cost and benefits of the plethora of options their employer is making available. In addition, brokers should focus on building strong relationships with employers to ensure they have a deep understanding of their workforce and their healthcare needs. This includes developing a comprehensive understanding of the demographics, health risks and preferences of the employee population, as well as working closely with employers to design employee-benefit packages that address the unique needs of their workforce. Finally, brokers need to embrace technology and data analytics to help them better understand employee behavior and engagement. By tracking metrics such as employee engagement, satisfaction and utilization of health insurance benefits, brokers can gain insights into what works and what doesn’t and use this information to inform their marketing and education efforts during future open enrollments as well as throughout the year during their monthly (minimum) employee outreach for year-round engagement. Ultimately, the need for medical brokers to transform themselves into more of a marketing agency has never been greater. By focusing on communication, education and engagement, brokers can help employ ees make informed decisions about their health insurance benefits and improve their overall health and well-being. As the healthcare land scape continues to evolve, brokers who embrace this transformation and invest in their marketing and education capabilities will be better positioned to meet the needs of their clients, and help them to succeed in the marketplace. Not sure if you have the time, know-how, bandwidth or desire to transform your benefit agency into a marketing agency? Don’t stress. There are incredible companies that can do everything above for you, and then some. Send me a note if you’d like to learn more. I’m always

By Eric Silverman Silverman Benefits Group Towson, Maryland eric@voluntarydisruption.com

32 ABS | benefitspecialistmagazine.com