Same Carrier, Two Brokers, Differing Quotes
You may wonder how two brokers can go to the same insurance carrier and return with two different quotes for the same health insurance product. This is not uncommon. You may assume that carriers are choosing to provide a better deal for one broker over another. Rather, this is a typical result when brokers provide the carrier with differing or incomplete information.
The insurance carriers will provide quotes based on the information they receive. Sometimes the information provided by one broker may be more complete or accurate than the information provided by another broker. Once all information and accurate paperwork is submitted, the carrier will provide quotes that will be the same for all brokers.
At BIS Benefits we aim to provide as much information as possible to the carrier in order to receive the most accurate preliminary quote. We do our homework so that there are no unpleasant surprises when the final insurance rates arrive. Furthermore, as your broker, we will never hide key factors from the carrier early in the quoting process in order to obtain a preliminary favorable, but unrealistic, quote.
To receive an accurate quote, it also takes effort on the part of the employer. The information the employer and employees provide is key to getting the most accurate quotes for your insurance. To assist our clients in this process, we provide an electronic tool that assists employees in completing medical questionnaires used in obtaining quotes from carriers. This tool helps employees to provide accurate and complete information. Furthermore, since this information is securely stored, once the employee has completed this information for their first enrollment, subsequent enrollments simply require updating the information. HR personnel who are responsible for working with their employees to gather the required information find this tool to be a welcomed time-saver.
In order to better understand the importance of providing accurate information to the carrier, review the following examples of how incomplete, inaccurate, or conflicting information can affect the quoting process and result with differing quotes from the carrier:
- The birthdates and age of employees don?t match
- The types of coverage applied for by the employees don?t match, (i.e. One census might show someone as employee only & another broker?s census might show that same person as family)
- The member count, (number of employees and family members and children on the plan), does not match Medical Information
- One RFP, (Request for Proposal), may include more detailed medical information
- The gender of the employees don?t match
- SIC codes on the applications don?t match
- The requested effective dates may differ
- One quote includes a Chamber Discount
- One quote may have 24 hour coverage built in
- One quote reflects the desire of a group to enhance their mental health benefits
- One quote may reflect a multi-product discount
By being aware of these components of an accurate quote, you can prevent the aggravation that comes from misleading deal quotes resulting from incomplete information. Furthermore, you can save yourself a lot of valuable time during the busy pre-enrollment season at your organization.
Jack W. Bruce, Jr.
Chief Operating Officer
BIS Benefits, Inc.
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