PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Fall 2021 - 28

Practice Pearls
By PVMA Partner, FocusHRO
" 15 minutes can save you
15% or more on
car insurance. "
SHOP IT OUT!
" So easy a caveman
can do it. "
Anyone who has watched any TV lately has seen these popular
commercials, showing consumers how easy it is to compare your
policy and see if you have the best price - and it worked. This
particular insurance company has since grown by leaps and
bounds thanks to a simple message that started back in 2000.
How did they do it? They defined the expectation and the result
- you give me 15 minutes, and we can (possibly) save you 15%.
Those who see value in the trade-off make the call.
In the world of business insurance and employee benefits
for your practice, often the trade-off is worth it. That is why
we encourage you to take a look at your plans and have your
options marketed every year. Here is why doing this is so
important:
1. Rates change. Many workers' compensation and liability
plans are set to auto-renew, and if there is a rate change
applied to your policy, chances are you may never know.
Over the course of several years, the increase could be
substantial and you would continue paying without ever
recognizing it.
2. Policy limitations change. The pandemic changed a lot of
things in the insurance world, including policy limitations
and exclusions. Reviewing annually will help you make
certain no restrictions or limitations have been placed on
the policy.
3. Plan design changes. We see this a lot, unfortunately,
where the carriers retire certain plans and give you a list
of options to choose from at renewal. Other times they
sneak in extremely high co-pays for outpatient surgery
while keeping the deductible low, hoping you don't notice
this in the fine print. Change is the only constant in health
insurance plans today.
28 | Keystone Veterinarian
4. Your company changes. In the course of a single year, you
could have a complete change in demographic due to
turnover. You could add enough people to be considered
for a mid-market plan, or maybe there is a new carrier
offering plans in your area that wasn't an option last year.
How would you know any of this if you simply renewed?
5. Carriers compete for business. Just about every other
year there is a new carrier bidding low, trying to win the
business. When you consider your options every year, you
will see this and can make decisions accordingly.
6. New funding strategies are emerging. Each year there are
new funding strategies being released for consideration,
and some of these make a lot of sense. Level funding,
self-funding, referenced-based pricing models, etc. At the
very least, learn about these to see if they are a good fit
for your business.
7. Save money. When we are able to help a client with
a remarkable story, we publish what we call " Success
Stories. " We want to share a couple of these with you so
that you are aware of the possibilities when you exercise
an annual review.
Success Story #1. Butcher Shop, Central PA. 50+ employees,
35 employees on the group health plan. Their agent sent
them their renewal expecting they would simply renew, but
when we were given the opportunity to quote, we noticed
they had moved into a mid-market category, allowing more
options. We moved them to a better network, lowered
their deductible from $1,500 to $1,000, switched them back
to tier rating (not age banded), and saved their company
$60,000 per year. All because the group allowed us to check
their options.
PVMA Keystone Veterinarian Fall 2021

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