Oh, we do love the data. Numbers do not lie. Data is indisputable. It tells us everything we need to know to underwrite pre-renewals and renewals.
However, in most cases, data isn’t available for employer groups with under 100 enrolled employees. When the data is available, we roll up our sleeves and get to work. Crunch. Crunch.
Underwriting DNA is extremely important in a broker’s pedigree. Without it, well, there just isn’t a pedigree at all.
Why is it so important? Cost control! We continually monitor the performance of your medical plan costs.
It is how we measure the costs against expected costs and predict the future costs. It is how we watch the rolling costs.
It is how we project the renewal long before it is calculated by the insurance company/stop loss carrier.
For non-experience rated contracts, there are still components in the renewal calculations that can be reviewed and typically negotiated. That’s a secret recipe. And it’s ours. That comes from years of experience both on the insurance company side and the broker consulting side.
We take the position to safeguard your expense as if it is our expense. Let’s keep your money in the vault.
Our underwriting gives us the ammunition to negotiate proposals and renewals because we have all the numbers in the equation.
There is a common misconception that benefit plans should be put to “bid” every year to manage costs. That is sloppy consulting. Costs are not managed by looking for the cheapest plan every year. That is akin to a hamster wheel. Goes nowhere. Achieves nothing.
Annual solicitations diminish your position in the market and compromises negotiation leverage when there is a serious need to make a change. When the insurance companies’ underwriters see your group come across their desk year after year after year, they don’t take the request seriously and know it is just a “rate check.” They don’t sharpen their pencils at all.
We only solicit proposals when it is appropriate if we feel the renewal isn’t warranted after we underwrite it, if the underwriters are unwilling to negotiate, or there are problems with the service, mandated benefit changes, or network issues.
Long-term relationships with a given carrier are to your advantage. The plans have to be managed well and that’s our job.
480.945.2188