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VISION CONFERENCE RECAP
? Top Brokers Share Their Sales Secrets
??Transitions Polarized Lenses Introduced
??How to Get Through to Clients?
IN CALIFORNIA
??Assembly Passes Bills To Expand Healthcare Services
??Get an Inside Look at DMHC?s Medical Review Process Tomorrow
??What Would Happen Without the Individual Mandate?
NEW PRODUCTS
??Fixed Annuities
??Medical Records App
??Tool to Evaluate Consumer-Directed Health Plans
LIFE SETTLEMENTS
??More Boomers Are Considering Life Settlements?
HEALTHCARE
??Americans Are Paying More and Getting Less
??Healthcare Spending Likely To Be Down for Years
LIFE INSURANCE
??Life Insurance Distribution Meeting
??How the Industry Overlooks Customers
??Customer Satisfaction Ratings for Insurers
VISION CONFERENCE RECAP
This week, the fifth annual Managed Vision Care track has been featured at the Transitions Academy in Orlando. The three news items below are highlights from the show.
Top Brokers Share Their Sales Secrets
Winning the 2010 broker of the year award has been the biggest door opener in 30 years said, Patsy Akridge, president, Akridge Financial Services of Martinsville, Va. ?This award adds another level of extraordinary performance to my client portfolio.? Brokers are nominated by their vision plans or they can nominate themselves. For more information on getting nominated, visit http://www.healthysightworkingforyou.org/?category=3. The site also features selling tools, which members of the panel say they find useful in client presentations. Akridge says that she now focuses more on presenting vision plans to her clients as well as tying vision care with medical care. In fact, one recurring theme of the conference is that brokers need to explain how the preventive care that is offered in vision benefits reduces overall healthcare costs and absenteeism and well as increasing productivity. When Akridge talks to clients about vision benefits, she makes her presentation more engaging by discussing about the aesthetics of ?vision products. The three finalists for the 2011 award also gave their tips:
- Anya Simpson, president, Benefit Plans Inc. in Norfolk, Va: You need to emphasize that employees? vision needs to be protected to reduce medical costs and absenteeism because employers overlook that issue.? Simpson admitted that she used to be an obstacle to selling because she did not understand the value of the benefit.
- Patrick Tibbs, Everence Financial Advisors, Goshen, Ind.: With healthcare reform, now is the perfect time to talk with clients about how to help employees with the cost and control chronic diseases. Employees get excited when they buy their eye ware under the health plan. They tell their friends. That is how I have gotten some referrals.
- Steve Farmer, executive senior vice president, Wallace, Welch and Willingham in Clearwater, Fla.: So far, with health reform, I have seen health insurance premiums rise faster. Also, we are dealing with a bad economy in Florida, so clients are very price sensitive. I had great success talking about using the website to show how it reduces healthcare costs. The biggest hurdle is convincing the HR director about offering a vision plan. But once they put the plan in place, they are surprised at how many employees sign up.
Transitions Polarized Lenses Introduced
Lenses that darken and lighten automatically have been around for a long time, but Transitions is now introducing lenses that are also polarized. The Vantage lenses, which will be available in May, offer sharper vision in sunlight. When you wear them, glass and water look more transparent outdoors and glare is reduced in even the brightest sunlight. Pat Huot, director of Managed Vision Care for Transitions Optical said that the Vantage lenses would cost consumers more than the typical transitions lenses. Vision plans will be offering discounts to members who want to purchase the lenses. To coincide with open enrollment, Transition is launching ads on T.V., magazines, and the Internet to promote the new technology to people in the 30-something to 50-something age group.
How to Get Through to Clients
Brokers got together to discuss value based selling at the Transitions Academy 2012 in Orlando. Here are some highlights:
- Use personal stories to explain how vision benefits have helped you or someone you know.
- Bring relevance to the sale based on the unique aspects of your client?s employee group. People in different occupations have different vision challenges.
- Read the client?s annual report and visit their website to understand their challenges and goals before you make a presentation.
- The benefit should deliver better than expected results. It should not create headaches for H.R.
- Ask clients what they like or don?t like about their existing benefits.
- Employees might love a particular benefit, but if the H.R. director is not behind it, you won?t be selling it.
- Some employers are actually boosting their benefit offerings to keep up with what unions are offering. This lessens the temptation for employees to join unions.
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IN CALIFORNIA
Assembly Passes Bills to Expand Healthcare Services
California Healthline reports that the Assembly passed several bills designed to expand medical care and mental health services. Lawmakers approved a measure ??AB 154, by Assembly member Jim Beall (D-San Jose) ? that?would require insurers to cover conditions, such as anxiety and depression. Opponents argue that the state?s health insurance exchange guidelines are still being finalized and that the bill could end up costing the state more over the long term.
The Assembly also passed the following bills:
- AB 137 would require insurers to cover mammograms for medical needs regardless of a patient?s age.
- AB 171 would require health plans to cover developmental disorders, such as autism.
- AB 369 would prevent health plans from requiring a patient to try lower-priced prescription medication before allowing access to a physician-prescribed drug.
- AB 1000 would require insurance companies to cover oral chemotherapy treatments at the same level as intravenous chemotherapy.
For more information, visit http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2012/1/27/legislature-takes-action-on-several-health-related-bills.aspx#ixzz1kttovJ6u
?Get an Inside Look at DMHC?s Medical Review Process Tomorrow ? ? ? ? ? ??
The Department of Managed Healthcare (DHMC) will be holding a meeting in Sacramento (or by conference call) on ?California?s Independent Medical Review Process: History, Impact, and Prospects for Change.? It will be held 11:00 AM to 12:35 PM at the California State Capitol, Room 42021315, 1400 Tenth Street in Downtown Sacramento. If you can?t make it in person, you can call 866-244-8528 and use passcode 639160#. To attend in person, RSVP to the Center for Health Improvement.
What Would Happen Without the Individual Mandate?
If the individual mandate were eliminated from the Affordable Care Act in 2019, there would be 54% fewer newly insured Californians in 2019. The number of newly insured would fall by more than 1 million, according to a report by the UCLA Center for Health Policy. The individual mandate, which is being reviewed by the Supreme Court, will require virtually all individuals to purchase or enroll in insurance coverage through Medicaid, Medicare, the Children?s Health Insurance Program, their employers, or the individual insurance market. If the requirement were eliminated, adverse selection in California and the rest of the nation could be greater than in Massachusetts. The reason is that Massachusetts provides more generous subsidies than those available under the ACA. For more information, visit http://www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu/NewsReleaseDetails.aspx?id=101
NEW PRODUCTS
Fixed Annuities
SecureOption Focus is Securian?s first annuity product designed for nationwide distribution. It positions the company for sales when interest rates rise. ?It?s a fixed deferred annuity with features and a compensation structure we anticipate advisors will appreciate. For clients, it offers a choice of initial guarantee periods, a return of premium guarantee, and a bonus interest rate in the one year guarantee period,? said Kerry Geurkink, director of Individual Annuity Marketing. For more information, visit https://advisors.securianretirementcenter.com.
Medical Records App
Kaiser Permanente is now giving patients access to their records through a mobile-optimized website. The new app is available for Android devices and other mobile devices, including the iPhone. From their mobile devices, Kaiser Permanente patients will have 24/7 access to lab results, diagnostic information, and e-mail access to their doctors. They will also be able to order prescription refills.
Tool to Evaluate Consumer-Directed Health Plans
Ceridian Corp. is offering its free CDHC Continuum Quiz. The free quiz helps companies identify CDHC best practices and understand how these important plans can help companies curb rising healthcare costs. For more information, visit www.ceridian.com or call 800-729-7655.
LIFE SETTLEMENTS
More Boomers Are Considering Life Settlements
About 29% of Baby Boomers would consider a life settlement to fund their retirement, according to a survey commissioned by The Lifeline Program. Fifty-five percent are concerned that they will have to continue working past the age of 65 and 76% remain adamant that people older than 65 should have life insurance.
Seventy-nine percent say financial planners and life insurance professionals should be informing policyholders about life settlements as a financial option rather than having a policy lapse due to not paying premiums. ?Many people didn?t know selling their life insurance policy was even an option, but Boomers are demanding more education from their financial advisors, even if a life settlement isn?t for them,? said Wm. Scott Page, president and CEO of The Lifeline Program. For more information, visit http://www.thelifeline.com/WhitePaper/
HEALTHCARE
U.S. healthcare spending nearly doubled from 1999 to 2009, climbing from $1.3 trillion to $2.5 trillion. The figures are striking, but what have they meant for individual Americans? RAND research published in the journal?Health Affairs?depicts how rising healthcare spending affects an average American family?in this case, a median-income married couple with two children, all covered by employer-sponsored health insurance.
In just 10 years, families?nearly?doubled their spending?on healthcare. However, the complex ways in which Americans paid for healthcare obscured this increase. Families easily notice increases in?employee health insurance premiums?and higher copays and deductibles. But other increases are largely hidden from view, such as?what employers pay?toward insurance coverage (which would otherwise be paid out as wages) and the?share of income and payroll taxes that pays for Medicare, Medicaid, and other government health programs.
At the same time, compared to other developed countries, Americans saw a smaller increase in life expectancy; more frequent use of costly healthcare technology including imaging tests of questionable medical value; and less effective treatment of curable ailments. The U.S. dropped from 14th to last among 16 developed countries in preventing death from treatable conditions
Total annual income, including employer-paid contributions to family health insurance premiums, grew from $76,200 in 1999 to $99,120 in 2009 ? an increase of nearly $23,000. However, price and tax increases, together with the jump in healthcare spending, left families with just $1,140 in additional available income. During the 1990s, U.S. healthcare spending grew at the rate of GDP + 1%. If spending had continued growing at that rate instead of accelerating, families would have had an extra $2,880 in 2009. The RAND research brief is available at www.rand.org/t/RB9605.
Healthcare Spending Likely to Be Down for Years
The rate of increase in healthcare spending has slowed ? a trend that is likely to continue even when the economy recovers, according to a report by Fitch Ratings. In 2011, U.S. healthcare spending rose only a fraction from the record low recorded in 2010. One factor is the relatively slow growth in healthcare premiums and another is the drop in reimbursement rates. Also, if no progress is made in reducing the deficit, cuts to Medicare reimbursement will take effect in 2013. In addition, most states have proposed or implemented plans to reduce Medicaid expenditures by reducing benefits and reimbursement rates, narrowing eligibility, and implementing cost sharing. Arizona has eliminated transplants for recipients temporarily, prohibits childless adults from entering the plans, and fines smokers and the obese on Medicaid. New Jersey is considering lowering the income threshold for participants. For more information, visit www.fitchratings.com
LIFE INSURANCE
Life Insurance Distribution Meeting
LIMRA is hosting its annual Distribution Conference on Feb. 22-24, 2012, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Presentations will focus on the value of pursuing a multi-channel strategy; how technology is driving change in the traditional channels; and how the regulatory environment affects distribution. ?For more information, visit http://www.limra.com/Events/eventdetail.aspx?id=1118.
How the Industry Overlooks Customers
The members of only 39% of U.S. households say they have had an opportunity to buy life insurance in the past two years, according to a LIMRA survey. Companies could grow their life business by more aggressively pursuing this untapped market,? said Cheryl Retzloff, senior research director, LIMRA Markets research.
Only 26% of single people say they have had an opportunity to buy life insurance compared to 74% of married people. Singles who did say they have had an opportunity to buy life insurance are almost as likely to buy life insurance as married households (51% versus 58%). One third of single mothers who are the primary wage earners have no life insurance coverage. And even single mothers with life insurance coverage are underinsured: Two thirds felt that their families could not cover everyday living expenses for much more than a few months should they die.
The study found that twice as many households shopped for life insurance in 2011 as in 2003 (22% versus 11%). But fewer households that shopped bought in 2011 compared to 2003 (54% versus 70%). Having online opportunities to buy life insurance may be the main reason why more households report shopping for life insurance in 2011. Shoppers who shopped only online were considerably less likely to buy (36% bought) compared to those who met face to face with sales reps (74%) or even those who dealt directly with insurance companies or sales reps without meeting face to face (67%).
The key differentiator between those who buy life insurance and those who don?t is whether they have children under age 18 in the household. Almost half of buyers have children in the household, compared with 38% of non-buyers. Not only does having or adopting a child trigger households to shop for life insurance, but it also motivates them to buy: Seventy-three percent of households that shopped for life insurance because of births or adoptions actually bought policies.
Non-buyers comprise two segments ? the 70% who are still deciding whether they will purchase and the 30% who have already decided not to buy. Only 14% of non-buyers actually decided they did not need life insurance and would definitely not buy.
LIMRA?s research indicates that it is extremely important to follow up with prospects who had investigated or inquired about life insurance, whether that inquiry was face to face, on the telephone, through the mail, or online. The most important reason that many people cited for not buying life insurance was that they were still shopping.
Retzloff said that insurers and producers need to remember that some life insurance shoppers may be slow to make a decision and may need someone to help them make the final decision to move, especially those under age 46 who have dependent children in the household.
Customer Satisfaction Ratings for Insurers
A new national study of satisfaction ratings conducted by Insure.com provides a comprehensive view of how consumers feel about the largest auto, home, health and life insurance companies in the U.S:
Life insurance companies
1. Ameriprise Financial 90.90
2. TIAA-CREF Life Insurance 88.58
3. Transamerica 81.28
4. Northwestern Mutual 81.23
5. New York Life 80.36
6. Pacific Life 79.99
7. Massachusetts Mutual 79.62
8. MetLife 79.39
9. Allstate 78.94
10. Prudential Financial 78.64
11. Principal 77.59
12. John Hancock 77.02
13. Hartford Life 73.75
14. AXA Equitble 73.58
15. Great-West Life 73.05
16. Jackson National 71.80
17. American General 70.86
18. ING Life Insurance 69.32
19. Lincoln National 68.12
20. Aviva Life Insurance 59.94
Health insurance companies
1. BCBS of Illinois 84.74
2. Horizon BCBS of NJ 84.52
3. Kaiser Permanente 84.45
4. Highmark BCBS 82.27
5. Regence BCBS 82.17
6. Humana 81.87
7. BCBS of Massachusetts 81.46
8. Independence BCBS 81.33
9. Care First BCBS 80.24
10. United Healthcare 79.23
11. BCBS of Florida 78.70
12. Anthem BCBS 78.29
13. Aetna 77.78
14. CIGNA 76.17
15. Coventry Health Care 73.19
16. Aetna Life (Dental, Etc.) 72.48
17. Health Net 71.91
18. Assurant 60.85
19. Blue Shield of California 59.20
Auto insurance companies
1. USAA 98.00
2. Auto-Owners Insurance 85.82
3. Hartford Financial Services 83.31
4. State Farm 80.50
5. 21st Century 79.28
6. Farmers 79.01
7. AAA 78.95
8. GMAC Insurance 78.56
9. Allstate 78.10
10. Travelers 77.57
11. GEICO 77.46
12. Erie Insurance 76.90
13. Liberty Mutual 76.14
14. Country Insurance 75.89
15. Nationwide 74.68
16. American Family 74.05
17. Progressive 73.69
18. Mercury General 72.05
19. MetLife 72.01
20. Esurance 71.19
Home insurance companies
1. USAA 98.11
2. Amica Mutual 97.67
3. Chubb 92.19
4. Erie Insurance 88.72
5. Country Insurance 85.75
6. AAA?84.66
7. Nationwide 83.53
8. State Farm 82.34
9. MetLife 81.68
10. 21st Century 80.79
11. The Hartford 80.44
12. Travelers 79.79
13. Liberty Mutual 79.03
14. Farmers 78.71
15. Allstate 78.55
16. Auto-Owners Insurance 78.48
17. American Family 77.10
18. Universal Property & Casualty 75.05
19. Fireman?s Fund 73.66
20. Citizens Property Insurance 64.15
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