Connecticut insurance brokers could see more business in the upcoming enrollment period, following several changes put in place by the state’s health insurance exchange, Access Health CT.
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Connecticut insurance brokers could see more business in the upcoming enrollment period, following several changes put in place by the state's health insurance exchange, Access Health CT.
Seeking to improve customer service, deepen its relations with the broker community, and boost enrollments in its individual and small business plans, Access Health has designated four of its highest-volume insurance agencies to handle call center customer referrals during the next three months. Another handful of agencies will serve a similar function at five enrollment centers around the state.
The designated call center agencies, which have each brokered a minimum of 600 exchange enrollments, include Main Street Insurance, Hartford/Waterbury; HealthMarkets, Cromwell; Crystal Financial, South Windsor; and Premier Advisors, Bridgeport.
The four agencies, which will be on the clock six days a week from Nov. 1 to Jan. 31, replace a four-person broker team that worked in the call center in the previous two enrollment periods.
The added help nearly quadruples the broker man power supporting exchange sales during open enrollment, when the call center can be inundated with up to 400 customer inquiries a day, according to Access Health.
“I think what you're going to see is more of our [plans] being handled by local Connecticut brokers, helping customers on the phone and being accessible to them year round,” said Josephine Sempere, Access Health's individual sales and training manager.
For the selected brokers, the contracts mean more referral volume and potential commissions.
The contracts also require the agencies to meet staffing guarantees and strict performance requirements, such as 60-second call-answer times and high customer satisfaction survey scores — the first time the exchange has applied such metrics to broker partners.
The initiative comes as the expiration of federal funding for state exchanges looms at year's end, which will force exchanges to financially support more of their own operations.
Sempere said the program should help reduce Access Health's costs, but she said the main focus is on increasing sales through brokers, who have sold nearly one-third of the exchange's private or “qualified” health plans (QHPs).
“We feel our brokers, with the training and professionalism they bring to a sale, you can't get that [quality of service] from any other party,” Sempere said.
Crystal Financial CEO Jennifer Lovett said her agency has enrolled approximately 2,000 members in Access Health plans in the past two years. She said the exchange is wise to rely more on experienced local brokers, who are paid commissions by insurers, rather than the exchange itself.
“I think it was a very smart move because this will save Access Health a lot of money,” Lovett said. “I think it's going to increase customer service as well.”
Sempere said the programs won't take away business from the exchange's nearly 700 certified brokers, who receive referrals from Access Health's website and from their own client connections.
Non-broker navigators, counselors and assisters will also still be staffing the call and enrollment centers, she said, though brokers' overall claim to total enrollments will likely grow.
Brokers critical to exchange's future
Brokers are considered crucial to the future success of Connecticut's insurance exchange, which has performed better than many state and federal exchanges.
While Access Health is working to further build its relationship with brokers, it has been forced to grapple with gripes about website and other glitches brokers have encountered while selling Access Health plans. The exchange and its vendors, as well as insurers, are all middlemen in the process, which can complicate matters for brokers trying to serve clients. To avoid headaches, some brokers, including Mark Czarnecki, owner of Douglas Financial Services in Branford, prefer to enroll clients with a private insurer, rather than with the exchange, except for clients who qualify for federal subsidies.
That's why, Czarnecki said, it makes sense for Access Health to steer more customers to brokers with experience selling a lot of exchange plans.
“[Access Health] would like to get brokers to sell more insurance through the exchange instead of brokers bringing the client directly to the insurance carriers,” said Czarnecki, who co-chairs Access Health's Brokers, Agents and Navigators Advisory Subcommittee.
Czarnecki said Access Health officials have worked hard to alleviate problems and acknowledge the importance of brokers.
“In 2015, there's much more focus on brokers,” he said. “They go to meetings, they listen, and they're doing everything they can to fix the problems. It just takes time,” he said.
