Your Insurance Broker plays a vital role in ensuring your employees are knowledgeable about their insurance benefits and receive the level of customer service they deserve.
Use the following questions as tools to help evaluate brokers with a thorough exploration of their general practices, account services, cost projections, legislative compliance, compensation practices, data analysis skills, and the brokers’ abilities for strategic planning.
General Questions:
What can you tell me about your firm and its culture?
Who would be working directly with our company on administrative issues, questions, or problem-solving?
Provide copies of your state agency license and certificate of professional liability or error and omissions insurance carried by the company.
In your opinion, what are the two key exposures companies our size face and how will your company help meet these challenges?
Account Service Questions:
Describe your account services department.
What is your process for ensuring customer satisfaction?
How do you help facilitate annual open enrollments? Include technology base approaches and identify additional costs.
Do you have a process in place for tracking communication between you and your client?
Describe your experience managing employee claims escalation.
Cost Projection Questions:
How can you help us develop cost projections tied to our fiscal goals?
How will you help the management of insurance, including monthly/quarterly supervision and/or preparation of claims activity, reports from carriers; executive summary reports; underwriting analysis for annual renewals; annual financial projections for budgeting purposes; and alternative funding analyses?
Legislative Compliance Questions:
How does your firm stay current with state regulations that impact multi-state or multi-location employers?
How will your firm notify us of changes in federal and/or local laws that would affect us?
How does your firm assist clients with HIPPA compliance?
Compensation Questions:
Describe your proposed form of compensation. (commission, annual retainer, fee-for-service).
If fees are charged for consulting and employee communication, please indicate the basis of your charge. (Hourly, by project, etc.)
Has your firm been subject to any lawsuits or settlements specific to compensation disclosure in the past five years?
Data Analysis Questions:
What resources do you use to analyze medical and pharmacy claims?
Will your organization provide a wellness and preventative health analysis of our employees and claims experience?
What is the average cost of customization or ad hoc report?
Strategic Planning Questions:
What resources do you have available to help us manage our benefits and outline a benefits strategy consistent with current and future business plans?
How are plan design changes proposed and handled?
How will you save our company money?
How will you demonstrate the savings?
How do you review PPO discounts and what are your criteria for recommending changes in the network affiliations?
Utilizing these analysis tools, you can facilitate knowledgeable employees and the level of customer service they deserve from their brokers. Don't be afraid to advocate for your business and team!
Comments