Staying Alive with the Health Care Reform
The big push for the Democrat’s health care reform bill is going to definitely be a sweeping change…sweeping some jobs right out the door. According to Time magazine, the new law will affect jobs that account for 1/6 of the economy in the US.
Brokers and small agency owners will feel the crunch of this new health care system and now is the time to make some changes so that when the laws are in full effect, they can weather the storm and come out the other side still in business and still profitable.
1. Support NAIC and NAIFA.
• They are insurance associations that lobby congress for the insurance industry.
• If you aren’t sure what is going to affect you or how, you may want to seek out the counsel of someone on board of one of these organizations and have them direct you to someone who can sit down and go over what the changes will mean.
• It is largely going to affect sales of health insurance care plans. It has been predicted that rather than seeing commission percentages, agents will be paid a flat fee, and probably less than what their commissions would have been.
• Small agents and local owners are already suffering from easy access to auto insurance online. The percentage of people who shop and buy auto insurance online increased 20% between 2009 and 2010.
2. Diversify.
• Now might be the time to delve into other areas of insurance and financial markets.
• Go back to school and get more training in other areas or in order to obtain other types of insurance licensing to expand your portfolio of products.
• If you already have your bachelor’s degree, consider getting an MBA or other master’s degree that you can use if you decide to close your agency and work in a different career.
3. Talk to your legislators.
• Keep an eye on legislation and contact your congressmen, senators, and other legislators to give your opinion.
• Do not sit back and do nothing. If you don’t give your opinion to those who make decisions, they aren’t going to know there are people out there with your predicament.
• Get together with other small agency owners and see if you can get together petitions to send to your legislators.
Whatever you do, make sure you do something. If you wait until 2014 when all these laws go into effect, you are going to be struggling to keep up with the times. Give yourself every advantage to leverage your business and roll with the punches.
