If
you are like most school districts or unions,
you are working with an insurance consultant
that provides a high level of insurance expertise.
Most insurance consultants have 20+ years of
experience and understand group health plans
( PPO's HMO's etc) better then anyone in the
industry. However, this high level of expertise
is rarely found with HSA style health plans.
This
lack of HSA experience is mainly do to the fact
that HSA plans are less then 4 years old and
only a small percentage of unions or school
districts in their region have adopted these
plans. Although, on a national level, well over
500 districts, unions and municipalities have
already adopted a HSA plan.
Most of the insurance consultants we speak with
have little or no experience with HSA style
health plans. We know this because they call
us every week trying to leverage our experience
with their client's HSA questions. Please note,
we work with insurance consultants throughout
the country. In our opinion, they are the true
professionals in the industry and provide their
clients with sound advice. However, not all
consultants work with HSA experts like Great
Lakes when they lack the experience in advising
their client's on HSAs.
Over
the last three years, Great Lakes HSA has been
compiling detailed financial data on the unions
and districts that have adopted a HSA plan.
We regularly speak to both the union and district
to get an accurate understanding of their experience
in deciding for or against a HSA plan. As a
result of this exposure, we can confirm a HSA
plan can be a win for both sides if it is properly
designed and implemented by a HSA professional.
HSA
Experts - Where did they all come from?
When we started our company, there were less
then a handful of people across the country
working with HSA plans on a daily basis. 12
months later, maybe a dozen were working with
HSA products on a daily basis or understood
the rules that governed this new product.
Fast forward to the summer of 2007, All of a
sudden, every insurance broker or insurance
consultant in the country became an "HSA
Expert". How did everyone become an expert
in six months?
Insurance
professionals might have 30 years experience
working with employee benefits. But if
someone hasn't been 100% devoted to HSA
health plans over the last three years
(like Great Lakes HSA), there is little
chance they have accumulated enough experience
to be considered an "HSA expert"
and provide you with accurate analysis
to determine if a HSA is the best plan
for your district.
