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Article<\/h6>\n

After all, not every CFO or human resource leader is an expert in all employee benefits programs. Although executives in these positions are responsible for making important decisions about the organization’s benefits, their primary duties are elsewhere. Consequently, partnering with the appropriate health and welfare plan broker is crucial.<\/b>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”3_5,2_5″ _builder_version=”4.0.6″][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.0.6″][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/rolandcriss.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Executives-Male-Female.png” _builder_version=”4.0.6″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.0.6″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text – Caption” _builder_version=”4.0.6″]<\/p>\n

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\n Asking for client samples and referrals are two ways to determine if a broker is reliable and has the necessary experience.<\/b><\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

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What to Look for in a Broker<\/h2>\n

By assisting benefits decision-makers in selecting the best carrier and plan design, reducing the cost of health insurance, remaining current on regulations and legislation, and other matters, the proper broker can serve as an extension of your benefits team. The best place to start is by determining what your team and company need in order to succeed.<\/b><\/p>\n

Look for a broker who is familiar with your industry before making your selection. Many brokerages focus on particular industry sectors or size groups. A manufacturing company’s benefits requirements probably differ from those of a financial services firm or a non-profit institution. <\/b><\/p>\n

Asking for client samples and referrals are two ways to determine if a broker is reliable and has the necessary experience. Long-term clients are a good sign since strong teams and resources help clients stay with their brokerage business.<\/b><\/p>\n

Evaluate the Quality of the Data<\/h2>\n

The data is fantastic. But valuable and useful insights are better. The questions you use in evaluating the broker include: What kind of benchmarking do you get, and how are their plans compared to others? Does the broker employ a benchmarking tool that allows for segmentation by location, size, and industry? (You can slice trustworthy and extensive data to understand better how your approach is aligned from a competitive perspective.)<\/b><\/p>\n

Testing for Service Quality<\/h2>\n

Are you meeting with the person who will be assisting you when you meet with a prospective new broker and start building relationships? You don’t want to be transferred to a brand-new team after developing a relationship with a salesperson because they won’t be as familiar with your company.<\/b><\/p>\n

If the salesperson is still actively participating, they may make sure that your needs are being addressed and that the connections made during the sale are maintained. Also, having a second person on your side who knows your business’ challenges is beneficial.<\/b>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.0.6″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.0.6″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text Learn about our heathcare fiduciary program” _builder_version=”4.0.6″]<\/p>\n

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Learn about Roland|Criss’
\n fiduciary management framework<\/a><\/u><\/span>.<\/h2>\n

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Five questions can help gain a valuable perspective on a broker’s servicing competency.<\/h2>\n

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• Is the team I’m hiring qualified to handle my business’ ongoing requirements, and how will our teams cooperate?<\/li>\n

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• Does the broker take the time to understand our needs and bring in the appropriate professionals to address any unplanned issues?<\/li>\n

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• What level of communication with the broker does my team need or want, and how might that impact the price?<\/li>\n

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• What are our projected employee growth numbers, and how can that impact the broker’s compensation?<\/li>\n

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• To what extent has the broker examined the health or welfare plans’ data security policies and procedures they recommend?<\/li>\n

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  What to Expect from a Broker<\/h2>\n

  Effective brokers see your organization as a partner rather than a client. They will try to ensure your inquiries are addressed, and your problems are resolved, rather than keeping track of the number of hours spent on your account.<\/b><\/p>\n

  Additionally, they are constantly fighting for you, emphasizing general openness and seeking strategies to lower health and welfare plan expenditures while preserving a competitive benefits package.<\/b>[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/rolandcriss.com\/contact-us\/” button_text=”Ask us” _builder_version=”4.0.6″ custom_button=”on” button_text_color=”#ffffff” button_bg_color=”#0c71c3″][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Federal law imposes a duty on employers to select healthcare plan providers prudently and be sure they receive only reasonable compensation.<\/strong>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"

  Practical Tip<\/h6>\r\nTo meet emerging cybersecurity standards as plan sponsors, employers need to understand some basic rules, specifically the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (\"ERISA\").<\/strong>\r\n\r\nThe U.S. Department of Labor (\"DOL\") is developing cybersecurity objectives for plan fiduciaries that form the basis for its plan audits. It's likely that the DOL's guidelines will add to the foundation on which data security related class action lawsuits are litigated.<\/strong>\r\n\r\n\r\nCybersecurity for benefit plans often falls outside the scope\r\nof cybersecurity planning for enterprisess at large.<\/strong><\/em>\r\n\u00a0\r\n\u00a0\r\nBenefit plans often maintain and share sensitive employee data and asset information across multiple unrelated entities as a part of the benefit plan administration process. This data and asset information should be specifically considered when implementing cybersecurity risk management measures.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nBecause benefit plans are regulated by ERISA, anyone who interacts with the plan should be particularly aware of the impact that breaches have on participants and beneficiaries and the associated rights and duties of plan fiduciaries arising under ERISA.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nEveryone who comes in contact with personally identifiable information (\u201cPII\u201d) has a role to play in protecting plan data.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nHere's where to start...<\/strong>\r\n\u00a0\r\n

  \r\n

  Adopt a Cybersecurity Policy<\/h2>\r\nRegardless of a plan's size or complexity, the need for a cybersecurity policy statement<\/em> (\"CPS\") has escalated to the same level of importance as an investment policy statement. If your plan currently lacks a CPS, don't delay in adding one to the policies on which you rely to demonstrate that your plan is being managed prudently.<\/strong>\r\n

  Conduct a Cybersecurity Risk Assessment<\/h2>\r\nInitiate an examination of your plan's current cybersecurity sensitivities, resourced either internally or by a qualified third-party expert. A legally defensible risk assessment will adhere to 18 discovery tasks. Scored on a scale of 1 to 100, an assessment offers a way to ensure continued improvement. Ask Roland|Criss for a list<\/em><\/a>.<\/strong>\r\n\r\n

  Elevate Cybersecurity to a High Monitoring Priority<\/h2>\r\nThe agendas of benefit plan related committees should include a permanent entry for monitoring a security management plan<\/em>. Best practices for ERISA governance, risk management, and compliance (\"GRC\") systems now require evidence of robust monitoring. Using a technology application tailored for that purpose is a must. Ask us about FiduciaryGRC<\/a>^{\u2122<\/sup>, a state of the art cybersecurity solution that covers the entire risk spectrum; assessment, technology, and monitoring.<\/strong>\r\n\r\nFiduciaryGRC\u2122<\/sup> is a trademark of Roland|Criss.<\/span>","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-healthcare"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rolandcriss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rolandcriss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rolandcriss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rolandcriss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rolandcriss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39708"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/rolandcriss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39744,"href":"https:\/\/rolandcriss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39708\/revisions\/39744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rolandcriss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rolandcriss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rolandcriss.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}}