April 2, 2019
7:45 AM - 6:30 PM | Registration
8:00 AM - 1:00 PM | NAHU Workshop
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM | Technology Showcase A
The benefits and health care industries are in the midst of a technology revolution that is transforming the roles of both HR professionals and advisors. A recent survey found that nearly two-thirds of employers now use a technology platform for insurance benefit enrollment, administration, or both. Meanwhile, more than one-third of those who don’t use technology are currently looking for solutions
In addition, emerging technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning are re-shaping the health care world. With so much happening, how can brokers find the best solutions for themselves and their clients? This session will provide practical tips and advice for next-generation advisors looking for answers.
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM | Technology Showcase B
The benefits and health care industries are in the midst of a technology revolution that is transforming the roles of both HR professionals and advisors. A recent survey found that nearly two-thirds of employers now use a technology platform for insurance benefit enrollment, administration, or both. Meanwhile, more than one-third of those who don’t use technology are currently looking for solutions.
In addition, emerging technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning are re-shaping the health care world. With so much happening, how can brokers find the best solutions for themselves and their clients? This session will provide practical tips and advice for next-generation advisors looking for answers.
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | The intersection and evolution of benefits and technology: How can we best serve the consumer?
David and Vinay will discuss how the whole of this marriage of insurance plus technology can be greater than the sum of its parts, and how you can prepare for that shift in both clients’ and consumers’ expectations around their experience with benefits and healthcare. Just as employers need guidance around the constantly changing healthcare regulatory landscape, they need support to understand, adopt, and implement these innovations.
Key Takeaways:
- Gain insights into how you can navigate the changes of technology and healthcare simultaneously, while connecting the dots to integration.
- Better understanding the various aspects of benefits technology, such as data analytics and decision support tools
- Learn how to adapt to the constant ebb and flow of innovation
- Learn about how consumers gain understanding of their benefits, and how to utilize the technology available to them during enrollment season and year - round.
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | Working with the C-suite
As benefits advisers develop more innovative strategies to help dramatically reduce employers’ health care costs, they’re increasingly working with not only the human resources department, but the C-suite as well. For many brokers, this relationship is uncharted territory. What is the C-suite looking for? How can brokers better speak their language and address their needs and concerns? Join this discussion to hear from both sides of the table on the ingredients for success.
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | ALM Prospecting Session
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | The Undefeated Mind: How Resilience Can Be Learned
New research shows that resilience isn’t something we’re either lucky enough to be born with or unlucky enough to be born without but rather something we can all take specific steps to develop.
Physician Alex Lickerman will describe four of nine principles that his study at the University of Chicago has shown not only increases resilience, but also decreases anxiety and depression to levels equal to that accomplished by medication.
Key Takeaways:
- We can learn to resist becoming discouraged by manipulating our expectations of task difficulty
- We can decrease our tendency to become depressed by altering the explanations we give ourselves for the causes of adverse events
- We can learn to endure pain, both physical and emotional, by accepting it rather than rejecting it
- We can learn to speed up the grieving process when we lose attachments by avoiding sense-making
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM | Networking & Refreshment Break
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM | The Great Reveal: Demystifying Healthcare Costs - The 6 Opportunities in Healthcare
Carl lays out the real reasons why healthcare is expensive to begin with and discusses 6 real-world opportunities to lower costs and improve quality. In addition to identifying the many obstacles to lower healthcare costs, we were also able to identify the best in class High Performance Healthcare Solutions needed to impact your cost spending patterns.
Key Takeaways:
- Why is healthcare so expensive to begin with?
- How to have health insurance your way and your terms
- Showcasing the solutions to what we believe are the six fundamental flaws in our healthcare system that we have turned into opportunities for you
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM | Business 101: Advice & Strategies that Will Kick Your Business up a Notch!
You ever hear the phrase, “I didn’t know what I didn’t know”? That comes to mind when many entrepreneurs are starting out in business. Hear Susan L Combs discuss advice she learn along the way as well as strategies she’s put in place to develop her teams, built a brand through Social Media, attracted a Millennial Workforce and found alternative sources of revenue to take her company to the next level!
Key Takeaways:
- Learn keen insights on adapting your environment to the Millennial workforce and understand what this demographic is looking for in an employer.
- Tired of working for free? Understand how to figure out what you are worth and how to approach adding consulting into your practice and charging fees.
- Learn a tried and true method to social media strategies that will help you develop a communications calendar.
- Discuss key components of developing your core teams for work, personal grown and home!
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM | The Adviser of Tomorrow
The broker community has adopted a mantra of next-gen healthcare supply chain language tailored for the C-Suite at prospective employer clients. To date it has served as a creative way to get meetings with a new audience but does your firm have the technical expertise to deliver on your messaging or will you be replaced a year later and remembered as yet another broker who sold an empty promise?
Key Takeaways:
- Advisers/Consultants Don’t Quote
- The Amazon Effect on the Producer Model
- Walking the Walk in Healthcare Supply Chain Management
- Spectrum Selling
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM | The Trends in Voluntary Benefits
The voluntary benefits industry continues to expand year after year. While the market expands and grows, so does the complexity. Every year, Eastbridge Consulting Group and BenefitsPro do a joint survey of brokers regarding their views and attitudes of the voluntary market today.
Key Takeaways:
- Insight for current peer group attitudes and views of the voluntary industry.
- An overview of the trends facing the industry today.
- Alignments (and misalignments) between the attitudes of brokers, employers, employees regarding different aspects of worksite benefits.
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM | Opening Keynote Presentation
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM | Welcome Reception In Exhibit Hall
6:30 PM - 9:30 PM | Benefits Pro Expo Official Networking Party
April 3, 2019
8:30 AM - 6:30 PM | Registration
8:45 AM - 10:15 AM | Focus Workshop
9:00 AM - 10:15 AM | Networking Breakfast in Exhibit Hall
10:15 AM - 11:00 AM | Broker Of The Year Panel & Official Announcement
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Morning Headline Keynote
12:00 PM - 1:45 PM | Networking Luncheon In Exhibit Hall
1:45 PM - 2:45 PM | Afternoon Headline Keynote
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM | American Healthcare: 99 Problems & Single Payer is ONE
Like a horror movie, Single-Payer Healthcare discussions are screaming “I’m baaaaack!” Why is government-controlled health insurance a hot topic again? How does healthcare really work in other countries? What’s different there compared to here? What learnings would apply for the US system? Presented by an ex-Canadian who trained and worked in Health Administration in Canada and has worked in the U.S. healthcare system for more than two decades.
Key Takeaways:
- Be able to lead an intelligent conversation on Single Payer issues.
- Understand why other countries’ systems sound too good to be true.
- Learn lessons can we apply in America’s health insurance system
- Be the hit of every dinner party
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM | Faces of Change Panel: Insight from the Industry’s Rising Stars
Back by popular demand, the pages of BenefitsPRO magazine will once again come to life with the faces behind the headlines. Meet today’s rising stars – the whiz kids rapidly growing their book, leveraging multifaceted strategies and openly sharing their successes as they push the entire industry forward. In this candid discussion, panelists will share their personalized approach to relentlessly driving impact in an increasingly noisy, 24/7 world. Take their pro tips to distinguish inspiration from imitation and cultivate an authentic, profitable and sustainable brand.2:45 PM - 3:45 PM | Data without Action is Death!!
Come explore the role of Data Analytics / claims data mining & predictive risk modeling in self-funded major medical health plan health care supply chain management. Participants will get an overview of what key data elements are most integral to monitor, and how medical management should be utilizing data analytics to optimize quality of care improvement and cost control. If you are doing claims data mining, but don’t know how to interpret the data, or are not USING the data, this session is for you! If you are interested in doing claims data mining & predictive risk modeling, but haven’t understood how there can be ROI in it, this session is for you!
Key Takeaways:
- How to interpret claims data mining data
- How to use claims data mining data
- How to capture ROI
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM | Filtering out the noise
How can brokers filter out all the noise and make the best decisions for their clients? As more companies rely on brokers to help them choose vendors, it’s ultimately the advisor who becomes responsible for the companies and products that are recommended and their long-term impact on the client. This session will provide advice from real life brokers. How do top brokers filter out all the noise and find the solutions that will truly help their clients? What questions should brokers ask vendors to keep them accountable?3:45 PM - 4:15 PM | Networking & Refreshment Break
4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | RBP 2.0: An advisor’s secret weapon
Reference-Based Pricing (RBP) has long sought to rein in costly medical procedures, but there have been significant collateral damage associated with anything from a host of lawsuits to employee dissatisfaction over surprise balance bills and collection notices. Version 2.0 of RBP not only removes these obstacles, but also becomes an employee benefit advisor’s secret weapon in helping clients and prospects tame the healthcare beast. Among the promises of this strategy:
Key Takeaways:
- The evolution of RBP plans
- How RBP is built to be an effective solution to reduce medical costs and make employees become better healthcare consumers
- Program benchmarks to minimize employee friction and increase engagement
- Client and employee experiences with RBP
4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | How to help employers reduce costs & improve outcomes with creative plan designs
Employers are drowning in the rising costs of employee health insurance, and it may feel like there are no options but to pay the increases or drop the benefit altogether and pay the fines. But there are solutions. The key is knowing what options are available and how you can pair services together in a way that works for each employer. Uncovering their needs, understanding their business goals, and crafting a workable solution that helps reduce costs and improve outcomes truly makes you an indispensable advisor. In this session, we’ll talk with advisors who are currently doing this with groups of various sizes (yes, under 50) and find out what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, and how they’re able to educate clients to the point of making the necessary changes.
Key Takeaways:
- How can clients of all sizes benefit from some creative program ideas
- Outlining How education is the key factor to helping clients see alternative plan designs as viable options
- Discovering how leading clients through a logical progression of plan design options can yield better results
- Highlighting how making only a couple of changes to a health insurance program can make a significant difference
4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Employee Benefits "Not Top 10"
Employee benefit plans are subject to a seemingly never-ending procession of compliance requirements, and even minor problems can lead to significant consequences for employers, fiduciaries, and participants. In this session, we will discuss the most common employee benefit compliance issues that we come across in our practice and discuss practical plan drafting and administration techniques to help you avoid these compliance problems-along with (relatively) painless solutions to common problems under Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Department of Labor guidance.
Key Takeaways:
- What is and what is not a properly drafted welfare plan document and summary plan description
- An understanding of the IRS and DOL rules for using electronic media for required participant communications
- Learning about certain benefits that are not always properly identified as being subject to ERISA
- The latest and greatest wellness plan rules
4:15 PM - 5:00 PM | Fast & Furious
Join us for this fun and fast-paced session, where attendees will share their best idea or piece of business advice in 60 seconds or less. The audience will vote for the $500 winner live. And everyone walks away with over 50 strategic ideas that can be implemented immediately. Advance signup not required.5:00 PM - 6:30 PM | Cocktail Reception In Exhibit Hall
April 4, 2019
9:00 AM - 9:30 AM | Continental Breakfast
9:00 AM - 12:00 PM | Registration
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM | 10 Tips to Increase Your Insurance Agency Valuation
This session will cover the top 10 critical questions that buyers ask when evaluating the purchase of an insurance agency. Answering these questions with the answers that buyers want to hear yields an above market purchase price or more favorable transaction scenario for the seller.9:30 AM - 10:30 AM | What's Your Story? Leveraging a Unique Message to Rise Above the Noise
Today, the health insurance industry is filled with “noise”. Broker presentations all sound the same. Everyone is regurgitating the same statistics and anecdotes making it difficult to stand out. Yet, it doesn’t have to be this way. Andy Neary explores the keys to standing out in a crowded market. Having the ability to tell a unique and compelling story is the fastest way to elevate your success.
Key Takeaways:
- Find your “story”
- Build a memorable presentation
- Share stories in a compelling format
- Sell with empathy
- Turn public speaking into a prospecting weapon
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM | Top 10 Ways to Avoid HSA Headaches
Health Savings Accounts (HSA) continue to gain in popularity. In this session, you will learn the top 10 ways that you can make HSAs part of your benefit strategy and avoid HSA headaches! HSA implementation will run smoother if you understand the compliance issues that may arise up front when you combine HSAs and traditional benefit models. We will also address any HSA legislative updates that may be in the pipeline. Through case study, learn how to use stacking techniques for FSA, HRA with HSAs and at the same time remain in compliance and expand tax advantages for both employers and employees!
Key Takeaways:
- Who is eligible for HSAs?
- What is disqualifying and permitted coverage?
- Which benefits are HSA compatible?
- How does the Health Flexible Spending Account (FSA) rollover and grace period impact HSA eligibility and more!
9:30 AM - 10:30 AM | The Medicare Challenge for an aging Workforce
So, you’ve taken care of your clients throughout their work years; don’t bail on them as they leave! Differentiate yourself as the broker who understands that Medicare is complex, laden with timing issues, problems, penalties and more. Our workforce is aging and faced with complex decisions about Medicare, HSA’s, individual coverage, etc.
Key Takeaways:
- Where to turn for Medicare help so that you’re not referring your business away;
- How to alleviate stress from your HR manager’s world;
- How to be the hero so that your clients don’t have penalties and coverage issues related to their Medicare transition;
- Strategies to lower your client’s costs while adding to your bottom line.