Every broker knows that cross-selling additional employee benefits can be lucrative. But sometimes it makes more business sense—for both the client and the broker—if certain benefits are sometimes sold separately.

A good case in point is dental and vision benefits. Typically the two products are paired together, but there are instances where it's much more prudent to offer one or the other, brokers say.

Dental and vision benefits are increasingly being carved out of packaged health care plans, as both employers and carriers are finding ways to make healthcare packages less costly after the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, says Mark Roberts, an agent for insurance products and discount health plans in Frisco, Texas. He serves as manager of national accounts at Careington International Corp.