By Bill Rusteberg
We are entering a different time now. It’s not the same as it was just a few short years ago. Employer Sponsored Benefits will give way to Employer Sponsored Stolen Money.
Employees will be gifted back some of their own money by way of reduced wages. Joe Sixpack is hired for a $60,000 a year job but doesn’t know it. Instead he’s paid $50,000. Then he’s gifted back as much as $10,000 but must show proof he spent it on “eligible” benefits like health insurance, life insurance, dental and vision insurance. Clueless Joe thinks his employer is generous and thanks him.
Joe buys the type and kind of insurance he needs with what he thinks is his employer’s money. He’s young and single, healthy as healthy can be, so he picks a dirt-cheap crappy high-deductible plan he knows he will never use. Then he takes what’s leftover and buys dental, vision, cancer, heart stroke, disability policies. Learning the truth after reading this blog, he makes damn sure he gets back his full $10,000 pay cut in the form of benefits he can use.
All of these benefits are online through marketing aggregators. Joe finds one of these websites and picks and chooses whatever insurance that grabs him.
Payroll department is happy. No payroll deductions to worry about. HR department is happy. They become the Maytag repairman. Upper management is happy. No annual renewals to prepare for. HR is double happy, no open enrollment meetings………..“It’s that time of year again……find what you need on the internet “ says HR.
Joe Sixpack gets better deals than he used to get when his employer dictated and controlled benefits. Instead of high commission ancillary products he gets more competitive coverage. Instead of getting a health plan he can’t use or doesn’t want, he gets one he does. And best of all, he owns whatever he buys.
Where does this leave legacy benefits brokers? Your guess is as good as mine. Techy guys with an insurance license will rule the field with state-of-the-art technology driven by AI.
Homework Reading Assignment: The Future Of Healthcare: From Employer Plans To Individual Choice
