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Benefits Broker RFP
Benefits & Compensation
Benefits Broker RFP
Exchange ideas about health plans, retirement, work/life benefits, and employee assistance.
I am going to be conducting an RFP for a new benefits broker.
Looking for one who can support Canada as well as the States.
Looking for an RFP template instead of reinventing the wheel. Also, I
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Forums » Topic Forums » Benefits & Compensation » Benefits Broker RFP
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Benefits Broker RFP
posted at 12/16/2005 5:52 AM EST
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Posts: 42
First: 12/15/2005 Last: 10/5/2009 |
I am going to be conducting an RFP for a new benefits broker.
Looking for one who can support Canada as well as the States. Looking for an RFP template instead of reinventing the wheel. Also, I would appreciate your broker information if you are working with a great broker who meets the above criteria, we are based in MA. Thanks a million! |
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Benefits Broker RFP
posted at 12/20/2005 1:09 AM EST
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Posts: 1047
First: 4/11/2002 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Honestly, broker RFP's tend to be a waste of time. A lot of brokers can talk the talk, but very few can bring the necessary resources and service to the table. Here's a couple points on the broker process:
1. Determine how many employees there are in the Employee Benefits Department. 2. Determine the annual revenues of the Employee Benefits Department. 3. Determine the top 5 carriers by line of coverage and what percentage of business is placed with each. 4. Determine how many clients they have by size. Obviously, you want to pay more attention to how many companies they service that are similar in size to your company. 5. Ask about their E&O coverage. The more reputable the firm, the more comprehensive the coverage will be. 6. Ask them about what employee communications they provide and request some samples. 7. Ask about how they manage a medical plan. Also, if your broker is talking about long-term strategic planning, then you may be in trouble down the road. Most importantly, set up a lunch meeting with the person that's going to be directly managing your account, not the practice leader or lead consultant. It's always going to come down to who you work with. |
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Benefits Broker RFP
posted at 1/9/2006 5:09 AM EST
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Posts: 63
First: 10/15/2002 Last: 1/30/2009 |
If you know any HR professionals in your area, I would ask them if they have a benefits broker that they recommend. The one I use is excellent, and her services are free to us (the insurance companies pay her commissions). She gets bids from a large number of benefits providers and then meets with me to go over all the options. Once the plans are in place, her company will answer any questions I have about the benefits and help us resolve any claims issues, etc. She has helped me save the company over 20K at my current company and at my previous company while offering the same or better level of benefits to the employees. (20K is a significant amount of savings for a small company.) Anyway, I don't see the point of RFPs for benefits brokers when their services are usually free to you (the company or the HR professional) if you can figure out the quality of the service they provide through references. (The previous benefits broker at my current company used when I started didn't do a very good job; he didn't even provide comparisons to other health insurance providers prior to the new plan year and open enrollment. Shortly after starting at my current company, I switched to the benefits broker that I had used at my previous company. |
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Benefits Broker RFP
posted at 3/2/2006 6:58 AM EST
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Posts: 1
First: 3/2/2006 Last: 3/2/2006 |
Innova Plan strategies, LLC is a full service consulting/brokerage firm licensed with all the major insurance companies. We will support our clients in all capacities related to your benefits program. 704-527-6027 x203. Ask for David.
We offer a wide variety of group and individual (executive) benefit programs that we custom tailor, implement, manage, and administer for our clients: Medical Insurance Life Insurance Dental and Vision Plans Disability Insurance Voluntary Coverages Section 125 Cafeteria Plans Flexible Spending Accounts 401(k) Profit Sharing Plans Long-term Care Wellness Programs Cost Containment Strategies HR Support COBRA and HIPAA reviews ERISA Attorney on Retainer! FREE For each client, we: Complete a plan audit/review Develop a five year benefit action plan Establish a benefits budget and plan objectives Provide field underwriting suppor/mid year renewal analysis Establish Plan Objectives and Designs Managed Care Comparison Funding and banking review Ongoing quality service after the sale |
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Benefits Broker RFP
posted at 3/5/2006 2:13 PM EST
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Posts: 3870
First: 2/12/2002 Last: 11/2/2009 |
An AD! An Advertisement on these forums!
To all readers, please do not utilize the services of anyone who advertises on these forums. If this is the only way these advertisers can generate business, they're not worth doing business with. |
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Benefits Broker RFP
posted at 3/6/2006 8:23 AM EST
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Posts: 20
First: 3/10/2005 Last: 8/15/2006 |
In my preious company we used Mercer in Canada. They did a good job for us there, but we used a small local broker for our US plans.
Brokers are NOT FREE. Although they are paid by the Insurance company in many instances, ask the insurance company what the difference in your health insurance premium would be if you wanted to pay the broker directly. They generally include the brokerage fee in the admin cost of the premiums. |
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Benefits Broker RFP
posted at 3/14/2006 7:52 AM EDT
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Posts: 1047
First: 4/11/2002 Last: 9/14/2011 |
Sometimes you can't pull the commissions out of premiums since the majority of insurance carriers have socialized commissions built into the rates whether you are using a broker/benefits consultant or going direct. |
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Benefits Broker RFP
posted at 1/12/2007 5:21 AM EST
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Posts: 9
First: 3/24/2006 Last: 6/17/2008 |
I am an Independent Broker/Consultant in the Midwest and I also happen to have clients in Canada and New York. I am not an option to be considered for an employer in MA but hopefully I can add a bit of "peer" insight to your RFP.
I do think a broker RFP is an effective approach if you have not experienced the services of an excellent broker/consultant in the past. I think some of the initial correspondent's points to consider in the RFP are valid but I also challenge them a bit. My firm is very small but I have over $1 million of E & O coverage. It is very cheap to purchase and means nothing in establishing creditibility. The carrier I buy it from does not look at the way I conduct business or anything about my practice. I was an officer for Marsh/Mercer and spent 7 years with that firm. It would be wise to include Mercer and Aon Consulting in your RFP but these "Alphabet houses" will provide a nifty sales pitch but I guarantee you will have a new account mgr. every 1-2 years from attrition. Because you have an international need though a firm such as these might be the better approach? Mercer is known to be very expensive though. My personal preference are established local firms. There are a few accredited associations that I would recommend, which identify what I would call the "best of the best" in my line of work. One would be NFP and the other would be United Benefit Advisors. UBA has a member firm in Springfield, MA by the way. Hope this helps..... As for brokers/consultants being free. That is certainly not true and never true. The costs of our services are included in the rates being charged to the employer. If some people want to think of that as FREE then so be it. In my State, if you have over 50 employees then you can negotiate out the commissions and set them at whatever level you want or allow your broker to do this. I suggest you make the broker's indicate in your RFP their approach to commissions or fees and have it put into a service arrangement for the selected firm. Your broker should really be looked at like your Accountant and Lawyer. Unfortunately we have to deal with the crap that is health insurance so we get blamed for that mess. My client's look to me to find the best solutions and I deliver. But for every good broker, I think there are two lazy ass ones that have made a lot of money and try harder at lowering their golf handicaps than servicing clients. |
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Benefits Broker RFP
posted at 11/12/2010 9:03 AM EST
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Posts: 1
First: 11/12/2010 Last: 11/12/2010 |
Employee Benefits News featured an article regarding the findings and the quickly growing popularity of UBAâs Health Plan Survey. http://ebn.benefitnews.com/blog/bythenumbers/-2684672-1.html?ET=ebnbenefitnews:e985:2172278a:&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBN_inBrief_110910
United Benefit Advisors (UBA) is an alliance of the nationâs premier independent benefit advisory firms. Membership in UBA is limited to 150 of the nationâs top independent employee benefit firms who meet stringent financial and professional credentialing requirements. Beneflex is one of ~15 firms throughout California that has met these criteria and has access to this survey. Note: âData in the 2010 UBA Health Plan Survey is based on responses from 11,413 employers sponsoring 17,113 health plans nationwide. This unparalleled number of reported plans is 2.5 times larger than the next three of the nationâs largest health plan benchmarking surveys combined. The resulting volume of data provides employers of all sizes more detailed and therefore more meaningful benchmarks and trends than any other source.â Let me know if you are interested in a free benchmark from this survey. ncdwan@gmail.com |
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