By Bill Rusteberg
Life has never been better for seasoned health insurance salesmen. They know how to stretch plan contributions to their advantage without increasing them. And medical inflation is their best friend, a convenient scapegoat that doesn’t exist yet blamed for cost increases upon every renewal whether deserved or not.
Brokers know keeping plan contributions low ensures continued employment. Keeping them artificially low guarantees it. There’s not enough money in fixed costs to sustain the lifestyle of the rich and famous, so it doesn’t matter how much fixed costs are because it has no material effect on broker compensation.
The Mother Lode is on the claim side of the ledger.
“Your claims have gone up” is echoed across the Fruited Plaines. “There’s nothing we can do but pass the increase on to the employees……..maybe next year things will be better” purrs the broker.
Sound familiar?
What you don’t know, and what you may never know, is the broker is skimming off the claim side of the ledger.
“How does he do that?” you ask. Watch your toenails curl as your glazed eyes twitch in Morris Code when the truth be told. In a continuing episode of As The World Turns you will learn how a 200-life group can generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed broker compensation while larger groups offer rewards so good Bernie Madoff can’t wait to return from the ether.
Ahhhh………but maybe he has and maybe he’s yours.
Knowing the tricks of the trade: Warren talks about sizing people up in business. You have to know what to look for, the questions to ask, and understand the answers you get. You can’t fix what you don’t see. You don’t know what you don’t know. It’s always wise to have a subject expert in the room with you, empowering honest discussion and sound business decisions.