www.hrreporter.com 27
Discounted pricing is clearly not
a sustainable pricing model as the
insurer cannot continue to have a loss
on the plan year over year.
Howard Cheung is an
executive at employee
benefits company Immix
Group in Vancouver. For
more information, visit
www.immixgroup.ca.
An experienced advisor will understand
a quote that is attempting to buy your
business versus a quote that presents
sustainable pricing.
Dealing with an increase
When presented with an increase,
understandably, alarm bells will go off
and you may request quotes. But the
last thing you want to do is to request
a market survey, choose the provider
presenting the lowest quote and then
repeat the cycle every renewal.
Not only is this administratively
time-consuming and detrimental to
employees, the insurance providers
will not provide quotes for groups year
after year and will cease to engage with
a company that it views as transient
business.
So, if an employer is presented a
renewal with a large increase, it should
discuss the details with its advisor:
What is the math behind the rate
adjustments? Do they seem fair and
logical or not?
If things still do not make sense,
enlist a different experienced advisor
to review the plan. They may agree
or disagree with the fairness of the
proposed rates.
Lastly, if the proposed rates are still
not logical, consider marketing the plan
with other carriers with the help of an
experienced advisor you trust.
CHRR
inside a pool and the employer is not
privy to the claims details, it's especially
important to get a second opinion on
the pricing.
It's the role of a benefits advisor to
analyze and discuss the quotes both
with the employer and the insurance
carriers that have provided the pricing.
