August 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS


Editor Column: Alan Katz

The Basics of Choosing an Individual Health Insurance Plan
by Tamara Quiram
• More and more people are turning to individual health plans to protect themselves and their families as fewer employers offer health insurance. Many health insurers offer individual plans including the most recognizable names in the industry. But not all plans are created equal.

View From the Top:
The Life Industry’s Big Players Survey Today’s Landscape
by Leila Morris
• Life insurance companies are scrambling to adjust to the economic downturn
and some are faring much better than others.

What’s the Rush When it Comes to Short Bid Expirations?
by Robert Stark
• Life Settlements require buyers, sellers and cooperation.  Price negotiation is only one, albeit very important, part of an extremely intense process.

How Vision Coverage Can Make a Difference in a Child’s Future
by Karen Gustin, LLIF
• Untreated eye and vision problems can affect a child’s performance in school and result in the misidentification of the root cause of learning issues.

Overcoming Common Obstacles To Selling Vision Benefits In Today’s Environment.
by Patrick McClelland
• Adjusting the way you sell benefits to suit the economic environment is as natural as adjusting the thermostat to fit the climate.

Promoting Vision as the Good News Benefit in a Tough Economy
by Patrick Tibbs
• Vision is something we sometimes take for granted, but, in actuality, affects just about everything we do.

Stay at the Top of Your Small Group Sales and Retention Game with
HSA-Compatible High-Deductible Health Plans”
by Brent Hitchings
• Small businesses are looking more aggressively for ways to reduce insurance costs but still keep their health plans. Offering an HSA-compatible health plan could make all the difference.

Up, Up & Away With Dental Sales:
Get Carried Away with Our Annual Dental Survey
• Welcome to Part II of California Broker’s 2009 Dental Survey. We’ve asked the top dental providers in California to answer 28 crucial questions to better help you, the agent, understand their benefits, features, and services. Read the responses and sell accordingly.

The Big Picture On Health Reform
by Steve Schulte
• Should brokers and agents fear reform (not knowing yet just how it will look) and work to prevent it? My position is no, not at all. Be part of
the debate since the issues are huge and important. If we truly represent the interests of our clients, whether individuals, families or businesses, then we ought to push for major reform.

Healthcare Reform & the Impact on HSAs
by  Cora M. Tellez
• We believe that HSAs will continue to be part of healthcare reform. We know that some lawmakers want what-ever bill is passed to include some constraints on HSAs, such as limiting the amount of the annual contribution made to an HSA by individuals and families to the amount of the HDHP deductible. While this would impact the tax advantaged savings rate that consumers can enjoy with a HSA today, the change reverts to the initial guidelines set by the IRS when HSAs were first established.

Marketing Yourself In A Tough Economy
by Ken Doyle
• Just because the economy is in a slump, doesn’t mean you have to follow. Don’t allow the negativity of the media, other sales people, friends and family to affect your performance.