When selecting a limited-benefit health plan for your client, focus on ease of enrollment and administration, as well as simplicity of the plan itself. To meet your client’s needs, look for a plan with easy administration and support from dedicated account managers.
Whether it’s eligibility, reporting, ordering of additional collateral, or billing, administrative simplicity is an important part of a limited-benefit offering. An efficient administration process allows a client and broker to focus on important business activities instead of repetitive administrative tasks.
The importance of communication
Limited-benefit health plans often serve a population that has never had exposure to health insurance or health care beyond the emergency room. When identifying a quality limited-benefit health plan to add to your product portfolio, it is important to consider the enrollment and educational communication material available.
Best practices in member communication include:
- Simplified content in enrollment and marketing material
- Creative enrollment strategies
- Simplified enrollment processes – Interactive voice response, Internet, live agent
- Simple plan design
- “High-Touch” consultative customer service
- Bilingual communications
- Access to health information and resources via print literature, online and traditional telephone customer service
Effective communications leads to a higher participation rate and greater employee satisfaction with the plan.
Selling a limited-benefit plan to your client
Start by explaining what a limited-benefit health plan is not. It’s not a major medical plan designed to cover catastrophic health issues. It’s not a discount plan with minimal value. It is a health insurance plan designed to cover common medical illnesses and injuries for people who don’t have access to comprehensive insurance coverage. With that in mind, does your client have a large population of part-time and hourly employees without insurance coverage? Do they struggle with high-turnover and low productivity? A limited-benefit health plan can be perfectly positioned to meet their needs.
In addition, many employers need multiple solutions for health coverage — including a waiting-period plan for their professional staff, a leaner plan for hourly workers, and something in between for franchise or store-level managers. Fortunately, many limited-benefit health plans provide varying levels of coverage designed for different classes of employees. In this case, an advisor is the most valuable asset a client will have to help sort through the available options. You’ve got the resources — and the knowledge — to simplify and optimize your client’s benefits strategy. And with one additional product in your portfolio, you’ll be prepared to provide a benefit solution that meets the needs of all of your client’s employees.
Curt A. Wieden is vice president of Product and Marketing for CIGNA Voluntary at their headquarters in Phoenix. He can be reached at 1-800-258-9260.