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January 20, 2002 at 07:00 PM
A large portion of the recent growth in long term care insurance sales that the industry is seeing has come from group plans. Thats a positive change from past years.
But one thing isnt changing: Group LTC carriers continue to settle for participation results in the 5% to 8% range. Theyre very happy when participation approaches 10%!
It doesnt have to be that way. I recently talked with a firm that had managed an Internet enrollment that drew 23.5% participation on an employer-sponsored LTC plan for 1,500 employees. Several years ago, a large manufacturing company with which I had experience saw over 20% of its employees buy worksite LTC coverage.
Such results are very possible, and may not be that unusual, for other plans–if they adopt the strategies shown in the chart and discussed below.
Finding the best candidate plan sponsors. The trick is to sell group LTC plans to employers that are offering them for good reasons.
That means: Do not sell the plans to employers that see this as just the next voluntary benefit to add to the benefits mix.
Figuring out the difference is certainly difficult, since most employee benefits professionals focus on the employer-level sale, not on whether the employer is offering a plan grounded in a truly trusting relationship with the employees.
But shifting the focus is worth the effort, for good participation results come from marketing to employees who trust their plan sponsor to do whats best for them. (Note: The employee population should, of course, have an adequate earnings level and higher-than-usual average age.)
Indeed, assessing an employers objectives in offering LTC, and how the coverage fits with the employers overall benefits philosophy, is key to getting out of the 5%-8% participation range for group plans. Conversely, saying “no” to employers that dont fit this description is key to not incurring expensive marketing costs for accounts that wont yield the desired results.
