BIP Winter 2025

It’s about helping every person understand their options, value their coverage and make informed decisions for themselves and their families. — Melissa Burkhart, Futuro Sólido “ ”

Sólido. “Futuro Sólido is NABIP’s exclusive partner for translation and multilingual benefits communication,” she adds. “The reason for this is to start to establish industry standards for the ways benefits terms are translated. Currently, there are no standards. ‘Primary care provider’ or ‘out-of-pocket maximum’ can be translated multiple ways. So, people often see multiple terms referring to the same thing, which is wildly confusing and unequitable.” The four-hour credential is delivered in two, two-hour sessions, with continuing education credit available for one of them. Beyond terminology, the curriculum explores how to simplify complex benefit concepts, avoid common compliance pitfalls and deliver information that genuinely connects with employees. Burkhart emphasizes that while SLBE prepares brokers to better serve Spanish-speaking clients, its lessons apply universally. “Speaking English doesn’t mean you understand benefits,” she says. “The same communication strategies that work in Spanish improve understanding across the board.” For brokers, the certification strengthens both cultural competence and client trust. It helps them anticipate language and literacy challenges that can lead to confusion, underutilization or poor plan choices — especially in industries with diverse workforces such as construction, hospitality and manufacturing. To further support members in growing their businesses,

Futuro Sólido offers Benefits Light Bulb videos. These short, plain-language explainers in Spanish and English cover topics like deductibles, HSAs, ICHRAs and out-of-pocket costs. NABIP members can access the full library for under $20 a month, rent it for a week for $17, or commission a custom-branded client portal with embedded video links. Every Spanish video includes an English version so brokers can easily preview and share accurate information with all clients. Additionally, a new initiative, Futuro 5, provides plan specific videos that illustrate key details, such as deductibles and coinsurance, and can be customized in any language using the employer’s actual plan data. These visual “cliff notes” help employees see how their coverage works before they need it. New sessions begin the last week of January and will recur monthly through spring. As Burkhart puts it, “It’s about helping every person understand their options, value their coverage and make informed decisions for themselves and their families.”

TIP: For more information on the Spanish Language Benefits Education certification, visit nabip. org/events/ list/single events/slbe certification

NABIP’s Spanish Language Benefits Education (SLBE) certification, developed with Futuro Sólido, is designed to help every member grow in effectiveness — whether or not they speak Spanish. The goal is to create clearer, more inclusive communication that helps employees better understand and use their benefits. “SLBE is about building your business with ethics and excellence,” says program lead Melissa Burkhart of Futuro

Jacob Wackerhausen / iStock

Winter 2025 bip magazine 7