Employee Benefits Brokerage Firms
COBRA Administration Services
The Current State Of Affairs
What can our employee benefits practice do to win and retain profitable client relationships?
It’s an administrative and economic jungle out there—and yet there’s more opportunity than ever to grow your employee benefits practice. Employee benefit brokers tell us that their clients’ employee benefit budgets are being pressed to the breaking point by successive double-digit rate increases. Each year, there seem to be fewer insurance carrier options, commissions are being pinched and human resources departments are overwhelmed by the inefficiencies of managing their employee benefit programs. So where’s the opportunity?
The vast majority of employee benefit firms in operation today are of the old school model: sell and service. However, a new breed is emerging and gaining market share at an unprecedented rate. These innovative employee benefits firms are positioned with the client to solve problems, not simply trying to sell another insurance policy. It’s obvious that firms that partner with the client have a more durable client relationship and drill deeper into the employee benefit programs, thus generating more revenue per each client.
A COBRA administration service is clearly a driver in partnering with the employer client to solve their employee benefit management issues. An increasing number of firms are building internal COBRA administration units to insert themselves into the clients’ human resources process to deliver value and improved operations. That’s because:
- The benefits firm can gain considerable control of the client relationship by becoming a member of the HR team, not simply their insurance agent.
- COBRA premiums can generate new revenues for the benefits firm.
- The benefits firm can capture additional sales by targeting the client’s former employees for life insurance sales, 401(k) rollovers, short-term medical insurance, disability insurance sales and any other appropriate coverage.
- The benefits firm can differentiate itself in the market by providing this important service, becoming the expert resource for the client, aggressively managing the risk of COBRA and creating a much-needed buffer zone between the client and their former insured member.
The Challenge
What does it take to develop an internal COBRA administration unit?
Many of the skills and core competencies that have made the employee benefits firm a success are transferable to the internal COBRA administration unit. For instance, commitment to continuing education, professional and responsive customer service and in-depth knowledge about the client’s employee benefit plans is key ingredients to successfully managing an internal COBRA administration unit.
In addition to these baseline strengths, additional resources will need to be acquired to develop a world-class administration unit for your employer clients. The question at this point then becomes, can we build an administration unit quickly, economically and profitably? The short answer is yes, if you partner with COBRApoint.
The Solution
COBRApoint has developed BUSINESS IN A BOX solutions
The Benefit
Simultaneously level the field and generate additional source of revenues
The Technology
The power of an effective application service provider
About the Company
COCO Development, LLC
COCO Development, LLC, provides cutting-edge, business-to-business solutions that facilitate and streamline the complex tasks of managing human resource functions. All COOC Development solutions are accessible in an Application Service Provider environment. Employer customers may access tier-1 technology solutions without significant capital investments or computiong infrastructure reconfiguration
Founded in 2003, COCO Development is being recognized as a leader in innovative HR compliance process applications. Every member of the development and management team has amassed in depth technical and practical knowledge about COBRA compliance administration and instills every facet of COBRApoint with this collective knowledge. For more information, visit www.cobrapoint.com.