Inside Tips on Picking a Health Care Broker

What should you consider when picking a health insurance broker for your business? Here are hints from someone who knows, a broker.

When looking for a health broker to handle health insurance plans for your firm, do you think beyond the size of the checks you will write? Looking just at the bottom line could be a huge mistake. But what other factors matter the most?

Russ Carlson, president of BeneServ Corporate Benefit Services in eastern Pennsylvania, provides some insider tips in an article for BenefitNews.com. "Believe me, playing with numbers is easy, and it's not hard to come up with the lowest. It's the strategy most commonly used to land clients," Carlson writes. Look instead for a broker that will be a long-term and flexible benefits provider and coordinator.

Does the broker's company offer discount vision, dental and drug plans? COBRA administration? And be a shrewd shopper. Find out the size of the broker's commissions and whether his or her company uses the same health insurance firm being offered to you. After all, would you buy a Ford from a salesman who drove a Honda?

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