Todd Bryant

So I have to tell you, the November EBA really got me fired up. In a good way.

These are exciting times. That may sound strange coming from a benefit adviser, but they really are.

At a client meeting recently, I heard some wonderful words: "Todd, I like working with you because you don't sell insurance, you sell solutions." Have you heard those words from your clients? If you follow some of the examples from last month's EBA, you just might.

If you are not working on self-funded medical plans, or are unfamiliar with the concept, now is the time to get up to speed. Last month's EBA was full of great tools and ideas, but most of them will only work well with self-funded plans. You need access to the guts of a medical plan and its data - you don't get all of that with fully-insured plans.

June's EBA taught us to take advantage of the skills we've developed to better serve our clients and prospects.

I would title the May issue, "Get ready to change." Change your compensation, change your market focus, and change how you help your clients.

I enjoyed the article, "Is stop-loss the answer?" on page 14 of the April issue. I started my insurance career marketing and selling self-funded plans and spent time as a stop-loss sales representative for a managing general underwriter, so self funding is near and dear to my heart. I agree with the comments in the article that self funding is a viable option to consider for larger groups. Heck, I even had a couple of 20-life groups that ran successful self-funded plans for many years. That said, there are deep issues to consider if you are not proficient in self-funded plans.

The March issue taught us the importance of being a well-rounded benefit adviser and what making the effort can do to improve our business.

To begin, we learned about the Death of worksite voluntary benefits. Well, not so much the death of them, but more of a re-working. We need to keep in touch and keep tabs on the market place. It's important to keep up with the terms being used - "core" and "voluntary" might have new meanings to your prospective clients. You've got to stay in touch with carriers offering worksite plans and be up to speed on how they integrate with the entire benefit package - or some other adviser will be telling your former clients about it!

January's cover story made a very important point - if you are a long-time adviser, give something back. Give back to your industry organizations. Give back to the new people entering the profession. The need for professionalism and expertise in our field has never been more important than right now.

As a Texas-based benefit adviser, I can speak from experience about the article "Building value through health data transparency" (p. 14). In January 2008, Texas passed House Bill 2015, under which for groups between two and 50 lives I can get data on month-by-month covered lives, premium paid and claims paid. I can also get a listing of large claims in excess of $15,000. On groups with 50+ lives, I get all kinds of information on ER visits, office visits, prescription drugs, etc.

Whether it's serving a niche market through international benefits or simply finding an angle of your existing business that you're truly passionate about, the November issue taught us that a sense of direction is critical to success.