What word or phrase would you like to see eliminated from theindustry, and why?

“High-deductible health plan”

Replace “high-deductible health plan” with“lower-premium plan!”

Mark S. Gaunya, principal, Borislow Insurance

“Voluntary”

My quick answer would be “voluntary,” as in voluntary benefits. The worddoesn't make sense anymore. Employees elect, voluntarily, whetherthey want a medical plan, dental plan, term life, etc. Why when weget to another plan—universal life, critical illness,accident—would we suddenly call them voluntary plans? Maybe“additional plans” or even just “employee benefit plans” makes moresense to me.

Ron Kleiman, CEO, BenefitVision

“Your rates are below the benchmark for others in yourarea and industry”

I have distaste for this phrase because it holds employers back.It keeps them believing a broken model is their only option. Whatemployers should be doing with forward-thinking benefits advisorsis moving towards “award-winning” health and welfare plans thathave completely transparent pricing, better access and benefits foremployees, and that do not come with yearly, ill-explainedincreases.

Niko J. Caparisos, principal, Prosperity Benefits,LLC

“One-stop-shop approach”

Less a word or phrase and more of a concept, let's do away withthe one-stop-shop approach to benefits consulting. In this evermore complex benefits landscape, we see true value inspecialization and have built our business around a couple ofdedicated focuses—disability, life, leave, voluntary benefits. Thatsaid, we openly welcome outsourcing, co-brokering or subcontractingthose areas outside of our expertise. Whether working alongside acore benefits consultancy, a self-funding medical expert, aninvestment advisory, etc., we stick to what we do best—alwaysstaying in our own lane and always playing nice in the sandbox.

Kevin Kennedy, benefits consultant, TriBenInsurance

“Leaving money on the table”

The products we provide to our group clients follow asolution-based strategy for them to help our ultimatepolicyholders, their employees. I don't think using this statementis professional, nor will it get you far in this industry. Build astrategy around your solution and share that story.

Heather Garbers, VP voluntary benefits & technology, HUBInternational Insurance Services Inc.

“Broker”

A “broker” brings buyers and sellers together. While this isstill incredibly important, our role with our clients has becomemuch more meaningful. Our role is more of a 365-day-a-year businessrelationship that supports our clients and their strategic plans.It moves into areas such as policies, payroll, wellness,compliance, risk management, human resources—all areas that areaddressed throughout the year. No one can afford to be simply a“broker” any longer.

Steve Kickham, consultant, Cornerstone InsuranceGroup

“Ancillary/Voluntary”

(I can live with “worksite” and “supplemental” if I have to, butdon't like those either!)

Why? The term “enhanced” is a much more powerful and descriptiveway to speak of our industry. The fact is that all benefits arevoluntary, but for some reason, the stigma of “voluntary” has beenplaced on our industry with respect to the products that are notemployer funded. Have you ever looked up the definition ofancillary? “Providing something additional to a main part orfunction. Supplementary.” If you're struggling with getting yourclients to understand the need and value of a properly designed andinstalled enhanced benefits package, perhaps it's your wording thatis stymieing your ability to garner client interest.

Eric Silverman, principal and owner, Silverman BenefitsGroup

“I'm a broker! I'm an agent! I'm aconsultant!”

How about, “I'm in the risk-management business”?

Karen Kirkpatrick, owner, On Your Mark Consulting

“Status quo”

Hopefully in the upcoming year, it will become a thing of thepast!

Rachel Miner, employee benefits strategist, Employee BenefitAdvisors of the Carolinas

“Limited network”

I'd like to see “limited network” replaced when it refers to anetwork that reflects quality/cost providers, as opposed to anACA-like “limited network” which means “any provider who acceptsMedicaid-level reimbursement.” A term like “high-quality network,”“high-performance network” or “best-outcomes network” doesn'texactly roll off the tongue, but it's more reflective of thebenefit that it delivers than the term “limited network,” with itsmultiple—and very different—applications.

William G. Stuart, director of strategy and compliance,Benefit Strategies LLC

“Disruption”

Replace “disruption” with “just doing your job.” And oncebrokers become health care supply chain managers, benefits managerswill become benefits optimizers.

Andy Neary, health care strategist, CaptivatedHealth

“To be honest”

No need to add anything.

Michael Causey, sales representative, Arizona BenefitsPlans, Inc.

“Affordable”

John Clay, benefits advisor, Better Source Benefits

“Selling plans across state lines”

This concept will not reduce the cost of health insurance,because the access to care is local. It doesn't help to buy a planout of another state that does not have access to a local network.Also, the cost of living is not the same in every state, so thecost of health care is not the same. The cost of an MRI is higherin California than it is in Missouri. If you can purchase a planfrom a different state, it does not change the local cost of healthcare. Finally, carriers like UnitedHealth, Cigna, and “the Blues”have networks all over the country and are already “selling acrossstate lines.” Some states have even passed laws allowing thepurchase across state lines, but no insurer has offered anout-of-state policy. If we really want to reduce the cost of healthinsurance, we need to reduce the cost of health care, and the onlyway to head in that direction is to move away from first dollar PPOplan and embrace HSA qualified plans.

Brad Snitzer, REBC, RHU, consultant, Cornerstone InsuranceGroup

“Click here for a free quote”

Put on websites as an enticement to prospects. Really?! Thatprospect is there because they have a problem/challenge and theyare looking for help. They're looking to determine how this agencymay be different from the one they already have. Why are agenciesso insistent on having that prospect evaluate them on the one thingthat makes them just like everyone else?! And…

“This is a relationship business”

(Sorry, I had to add another.) Advisors are not in therelationship business, they are in the advice and results business.Prospects aren't looking for new friends; they are looking forhelp.

It is only a relationship business for those who don't have moreto offer, or as a tie-breaker when everything else is equal. But,everything else is almost never equal.

The ironic part is that those advisors who are able to give theright advice and deliver meaningful results find themselves withthe strongest client relationships of all.

Kevin Trokey, founding partner, coach,Q4intelligence

“Cheaper”

In general, I would like to eliminate from the universe thefollowing phrases: “awesome sauce,” “totes adorbs,” “cray cray.” Asfor the health care industry, I'd like to eliminate the word“cheaper.” And because I'm not a whiner who just brings problems,my solution is to replace it with the term “better value.”

Let me tell you a story: I recently received a LinkedInconnection request from the CEO of a company. He was reaching outto connect because he “thought we could both benefit.” When Iresponded and thanked him, he asked if my company offered medicalbenefits. Strange. So, I looked at his profile a little closer.Turns out he was a competitor to one of the services weprovide—seems he was randomly connecting to sell direct toemployers. So, I quickly explained that we were in similarbusinesses, gave a quick overview of what we did, ourdifferentiator, and thanked him again. His response floored me: “Iwish you were selling our service instead and then your pricescould be much lower.” AKA, cheaper. While that was officially theend of our conversation, it continued on in my head all day! “Whodoes this guy think he is? He doesn't know jack about my business.Is price the only way he can sell his product?” In the “Little RedBook of Selling,” Jeffrey Gittomer says, “…figure out where yourvalue proposition lies and how to communicate it in a way that thecustomer will get it and be so compelling in your proof statementsor your testimonials that the customer will both emotionally andlogically make the decision to buy from you.”.

I get that with health insurance, every dollar counts. I getthat employers are constantly looking to save a buck on theirbenefits costs. But, is it really the only metric that matters? Asindustry leaders, what advice, tools, strategies, products, ideasdo you offer that bring true value to your clients—extras thataren't commodities and can't be measured in a side-by-side bid?

Heidi Rasmussen, co-founder & COO, freshbenies

“The problem is…”

I think it's better to be positive than negative, so if runningthe phrase “the problem is” through a wood chipper—in a positiveway—is something that would make our industry better, I'm all forit. I just think it's better to start things off with somethinglike, “let's solve for” rather than “the problem (which is yourfault, not ours) is.” In my experience, keeping the focus on thepossibilities instead of the barriers keeps people in a creativestate and leads to better solutions.

Chad Schneider, director of channel sales,Jellyvision

“High-deductible health plan”

Ever since I started in the industry a decade ago,“high-deductible health plan” has been a constant reminder to me ofhow hapless we can be at marketing. “What should we name these newplans?” “How about we call them by their worst attribute?” “Sold!”And we wonder why it's taken nearly 15 years to even approach 50percent market penetration. PPO, HMO and even CDHP aren't muchbetter, and it all signals how far we are from truly acting likeconsumer-friendly organizations. If I were the King of All HealthInsurance for a Day, I would forbid actuaries from naming plans andforbid marketers from messing with plan designs, in hopes that wewould get something far simpler for consumers to manage and farmore appealing for consumers to select. And once we get thatsnowball rolling downhill, maybe it will pick up steam and simplifysome of the rest of health care, too.

Shandon Fowler, founder and principal, Four8Insights