Makes the Complex World of Insurance Simple

Benefit: You can feel confident that you will be well-informed to make the best decision for your needs.

About five years ago we received a call from a prospect.  Over time we had developed a relationship with this prospect, but they were part of a collaborative for the purchase of their employee medical coverage.  Their most recent annual premium increase was projected to be very high so they felt it was time to seek an alternative to the status quo.

During our initial meeting with the client, a number of options were discussed.  Along with the traditional, fully-insured plan designs, a partially self-insured (hybrid) plan was also discussed.  The client did not want to make any major changes but preferred to make some minor benefit reductions in an effort to achieve the required cost savings and thought that perhaps the hybrid plan was too radical and overly complex.

As carriers began to respond to our RFP, it became apparent to the account that the traditional benefit reductions would not yield the necessary savings.  Having been given the choice, they now wanted to seriously consider the hybrid-funding model.  Since this concept had never been presented to this group, we knew that a thorough education was in order.  So, we set out to provide them with the information that would be necessary to make a well-informed decision.  We didn’t want them to get so excited about the potential savings that they missed the inherent (albeit calculated) risks associated with this type of funding arrangement.

We prepared a presentation that could be understood not only from an insurance professional’s perspective, but from the perspective of the managers and frontline personnel that would have to understand and support the plan.  The result was a concise, yet comprehensive, array of exhibits along with a face-to-face presentation to the key decision-makers at the account.

“Wow, I get this!  This couldn’t have been made any clearer to me.”  These were just a couple of the comments that we received.  They were given a choice.  They knew the benefits and clearly understood the risk.  Here is what they have to say:

“Paradigm presented us with a progressive, non-conventional approach which at first seemed complex.  They broke it down and explained it in a manner that we could all understand.  Once we decided to move forward, Paradigm provided complete employee communication and hands-on support to make the transition to our new plan a success – because if our employees didn’t embrace the plan, it wouldn’t succeed.  The transition was seamless and, best of all, so far we have saved over $3.5 million on our health plan!”

Michael Shea, Superintendent, Greater New Bedford Regional Voc-Tech