Her Story
About Jennifer
I am a group benefit consultant working as a broker representing a number of different insurance carriers like Blue Cross, Blue Care Network, Priority Health, Aetna, HAP, and all of the big carriers. My niche really is in municipality - I work with a lot of counties, cities, road commissions, and mental health facilities. I go in and evaluate their employee benefits and look for areas for improvement, holes in their compliance, and the biggest thing is looking for cost savings without reducing the benefit. A lot of times I can go in and find savings by doing things differently without reducing the benefit to the actual employee, and that's where my job is very rewarding. When you've been in this business long enough, you can look easily at a benefit booklet and look at some things and say, okay, I know exactly where we can save some money. I don't need to get a census or go through this whole quoting process - I can share where the problem is and where you can create savings and give you a rough percentage idea very quickly. Service is very important to me because I started young and it's where I started in the business. My goal is to always make sure I'm looking out for the best interest of the employer and the employee and find that happy medium. I'm always going to be there for the employee too - it's after hours, it's weekends. All of my employer groups and employees know they can reach me at any time.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jennifer
01What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think there's a place for AI and automation is great, but when it comes to service and healthcare, when we're making healthcare more and more complicated and more and more procedures and care, they need a live person. They need someone that cares, that can help them because it's frustrating. Acrisure has an example, just let go of another 2,100 employees (400 were let go last October), they are moving everything to AI and outsourcing a lot of service internationally. I just don't believe in that for healthcare. Until I retire, I will continue to run my business this way because I just don't feel like AI is ready for that and I don't think that's the way to go.
Another challenge in this business is non-competes that we as agents/brokers are faced with. If we build a book of business with an employer and choose to leave and/or are let go (as we are seeing happening a lot with aquisitions), we can't touch former accounts for 2-3 years (depending upon the contract signed). It makes the job more difficult, especially when you have a client that wants to continue working with "you", not the "agency" your under.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Service is very important to me because I started young and it's where I started in the business. My goal is to always make sure I'm looking out for the best interest of the employer and the employee and find that happy medium. It's just who I am, but I'm always going to be there for the employee too. Sometimes employees don't get their scripts until Sunday, and if it's a heart med, I want them to be able to call me if they're running into problems. I want to help them. I have always prided myself in the service and giving my cell phone out. All of my employer groups and employees know they can reach me at any time. Personally, my health is one goal, and continuing to try to find a work-life balance, which has been a struggle for me for my entire life because I pour my heart out into my work and I want to also pour my heart out into home. Sometimes that's very difficult for me to do and manage both effectively, and so that's always an area I'm continuing to strive to be better at.
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