May 18, 2021
Sixty-six percent of businesses have shifted benefits strategies and 53% have changed health insurance brokers during the pandemic, according to a survey by Ease. This number rises to 70% for businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
Fifty-four percent of businesses surveyed changed health insurance brokers in the past 12 months. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees were the most affected segment (61%), followed by businesses with 51-100 employees (60%), and businesses with 100+ employees (49%). This indicates that the smallest businesses had the highest dissatisfaction with their health insurance broker.
The pandemic has driven businesses to prioritize limiting costs, getting better service, and having more options. Fifty percent of businesses that have not changed brokers in the past 12 months would consider switching to a broker who offered better service. The next most popular reasons to switch are to find new ways to drive down costs and improve plan flexibility, such as carve-outs and level funding, for example.
Businesses are looking for the ideal suite of benefits to maximize cost savings while addressing the newfound focus on health care benefits as a result of the pandemic. They list these top five priorities for 2021:
- 53% Promoting employee health and well-being
- 40% Managing claims and developing strategies to cut costs while keeping employees satisfied
- 37% Improving employee satisfaction and engagement
- 36% Increasing employee productivity
- 35% Containing health care costs
Benefits Go Digital
Rapid digitization during the pandemic has left human resource leaders with little choice but to simplify how they exchange data. That includes enhancing connectivity among digital platforms through API-based integration. Fifty-four percent of businesses surveyed say benefits administration technology will be a higher priority in 2021.
What Businesses Want from Brokers
Forty-five percent of businesses say that what they want most from their insurance broker is assistance with personalized benefits education and materials. Employees often find benefits to be confusing. So they are afraid to make changes, relying on guidance from their employer and broker. If benefits become a frustrating experience, engagement will decline and the employer’s financial risk will increase. Other demands for brokers include getting help analyzing claims data, having a better way to estimate costs, and getting help with compliance. Another opportunity to serve businesses is to help them transition from paper to online enrollment.
Your Amwins Connect Regional Sales Representative can help you win more business with key strategies to meet the demands of today's employers.
