R&R Insurance Blog

As I drive throughout the great state of Wisconsin, I have noticed more and more roundabouts popping up. I’m sure you’re likely familiar with what a roundabout is, yet for those who haven’t attempted to navigate the circular spiral of traffic, it’s simply a replacement for a standard four-way intersection meant to keep vehicles flowing with the elimination of stop signs and traffic lights.

Now, judging from how many cars I idle behind at roundabout yield signs, over-hesitant to push forward, you’ll probably think I’ve taken in an abundance of gas fumes when I say, “I love roundabouts.”

So, for those of you who do not share my same excitement for roundabouts, perhaps I can list a few of the many benefits they provide:

• Simplifies the pedestrian’s visual environment – this prevents pedestrians from getting hit – pretty good reason for me.
• Reduced driver confusion with perpendicular junctions – we all seem to forget who goes first when two or more cars get to a four-way stop sign at the same time.
• Reduced queuing associated with traffic lights – the American commuter spends 38 hours a year idling at traffic lights – enough said.
• Allows for U-turns within the normal traffic flow – there’s no telling how many times I miss my turn and can’t turn around anywhere.
• Due to less time idling than signaled intersections, they reduce pollution – we’re all breathing the benefits.
• They make less traffic noise with braking and start-up noise – especially those of you driving muscle cars and Harleys.
• They eliminate perpendicular/T-bone crashes – probably one of the biggest benefits of all.

So with all the positives, why are there so many who haven’t jumped into the acceptance lane?

My thought, no one has taught a course on how to navigate one properly. Thinks about it, when these circular patterns started appearing, did anyone host a class on how to best use?

The same, unfortunately, holds true for Health Savings Accounts (HSA). Healthcare rates are increasing at an uncontrollable rate and too many people are not reaping the multitude of benefits and cost savings by merging on to the HSA Highway.

A Health Savings Account is very similar to a roundabout in that there are a myriad of advantages:

• Used to meet your deductible – it’s inevitable, deductibles aren’t going anywhere, yet at least there’s more opportunity to help offset the cost.
• Portable, go with you wherever you go – Just in case a new career opportunity presents itself, your HSA funds never need to be part of the consideration process.
• Tax deductible off of gross income - Who doesn’t like keeping a little more for themselves?
• Grow tax-deferred - We’re on a roll.
• NEVER taxed when used for qualified medical expenses - This whole “keeping more of my money” just keeps getting better.
• Roll over year after year -- no "use it or lose it" – awesome – now who wants to buy the numerous, unopened heating pads I purchase every year to avoid losing money in a standard, use-it-or-lose-it, Flexible Spending Account.

If you’ve been hesitant to jump onto the HSA Highway or currently have a High-Deductible HSA plan, yet don’t feel the benefits are being noticed, I would be happy to introduce you to R&R Insurance’s HSA strategy. With our turbo-drive approach, we’re putting the brakes on rising healthcare costs, pushing the pedal with employee engagement, moving the speedometer on consumerism, and putting both employers and employees back in the driver’s seat and in control of their health spend.

Now, my wife will not recommend you take roundabout driving lessons from me, yet I’m happy to help with roundabout navigation, or, what I am better suited for, benefiting from a HSA.

Knowledge starts with the knowing – I invite you to come know HSA’s with us.

Contact a KnowledgeBroker for additional information.

Although Halloween has come and gone, we believe it's never too late to discuss sweets.

As a child, I absolutely loved Halloween. I would run rapid through my neighborhood filling my bag with goodies. After visiting every house, I would rush home and change into a new costume and go revisit those houses who gave out the best candy.

I know what you’re thinking – Yes, I was one of those kids. Yet, I guess I never looked at it that way, rather that I was complimenting those who enhanced my experience of trick-or-treating.

At R&R, we pride ourselves on being all about enhancing your experience and we strive to be that one house on the block that exceeds everyone’s expectations with Health Benefits.

When it comes to partnering with an organization as their Health Benefit Broker, we are truly handing out the oversized candy bars with resources and services like:

• A Financial Analyst on staff and an investment in Financial Analytic Software. When you combine the two, you get a Count Dracula understanding of your best plan design options all in real-time, giving you the power and confidence to make the best decisions for you and your employees.

• ACA Assurance. With an on staff, ACA compliance guru, we ensure our clients are proactively informed about all things compliance related so that even if a black cat crosses your path, we’ve got you covered.

• A commitment to wellness. With R&R, you don’t have to go bobbing for apples to try and construct a wellness program. With a staffed and certified wellness specialist we’ll hand deliver the apples and design/build a wellness program that’s geared toward cost reduction, consumerism, and engagement.

• A dedicated customer service team. To us, we think great service is expected, so to be that one house on the block who exceeds your expectations, we personalize each client’s service package and deliver accountable service metrics to ensure you’ll never have a horrific experience.

• An employee communication/education plan like no other. If you feel like your employees are zombies after you talk to them about benefits or you have to dust the cobwebs off your health plan materials, you’re not alone. Now, we’re not going to give away all the beetlejuice about what makes us so unique and different, but we can assure you that we have a “ballroom blitz” communication strategy that seals the coffin on everyone else.

Some employers have been getting mini-bars for years and have not realized they may be missing out on some incredible enhancements. Don’t be scared by the thought that there isn’t a better house on the block. We’re confident, you’ll be haunted to know what has been absent when you learn how if a different kind of Broker, takes a different kind of approach, you and your employees get a much different kind of result.

I appreciate you carving out a few minutes to read this and welcome the opportunity to further connect and illustrate the endless advantages R&R brings to our clients.

Let me start by asking, do you know how to do a somersault?

Without seeing if you raised your hand, I am willing to bet, you confirmed that you know how to do a somersault.

Now I’ll ask you – Do you really remember how to do a somersault?

Seems pretty simple – right? But when was the last time you actually got down on all fours and attempted to muddle your body into a ball and project your feet over your head? Chances are, it’s been quite some time since you last attempted this feat. And probably with good reason – why do a somersault as an adult (unless you’re a gymnast, in the military training to dodge enemies, or a ninja)?

The other day, when I got home from work, my wife asked me if I could do a somersault. Naturally, and with my male self-assurance, I replied, “Yes, certainly.” Now, my wife wasn’t asking because she had any interest in seeing me do one, she was asking because she had resided in her own self-assurance and thought, “It’s just like riding a bike.”

See, a few hours earlier, our 5 older children (ages 10 through 13) were trying to teach oops child #6 (2 ½) how to do a somersault. Yet, as my wife looked on, she noticed that the older kids forgot how to do a somersault. She chuckled and giggled as they rolled their bodies from side to side in an attempt to relearn something that seemed so simple.

So, as expected, my children, who are motivated by the grief they can instill in their mother, threw out the challenge to my wife, “Let’s see you do it, Mom!”

I wasn’t there to see it, yet my wife’s explanation was visual enough that I laughed pretty loud at the thought of her trying to outdo the kids. She explained how she got into a jumbled ball and stayed locked there for what seemed like an eternity. She was perplexed at how to make the transition of, tuck, roll your neck, arch your back, push off with the balls of your feet, brace with your hands, and let your hands and shoulders fall through after your feet and legs project end over end.

I am not going to age my wife, yet let’s just say it’s been 20 plus years since she made the attempt. Did she do it? Yes. Was it as easy as she thought? Heck no. Does her back and neck now hurt? You bet.

So, why does a guy who’s a Healthcare Broker for a living think there is a correlation between doing a somersault and managing your healthcare benefits? Well, it’s simple. When was the last time you truly went through the process of evaluating what your Healthcare Broker is offering for you? See, in sales, we’ll do flips, cartwheels, jump through hoops, and even somersault at the chance to earn your business. Yet once you say yes, are you circling back, taking note of why you said yes, and holding your Broker accountable to the somersault they promised?

Being a Healthcare Broker is not just saying I know how to do a somersault, it’s being an expert at it and performing the aerial feats that landed us your business in the first place. A quality, high-flying Broker relationship should include a plan that illustrates how they’ll be doing airborne bouts for you on a continual basis throughout the year.

At R&R, we’re poised to exceed your expectations and deliver a 12-month, somersault of a plan to provide you with the confidence that the flips and cartwheels continue long after you award us a, “Yes.”

If you’d like to learn how we’ll transcend your expectations, please contact me.

Now, if you’re wondering if I attempted the feat of the somersault, well, the answer is yes, and the outcome was even worse than my lovely wife’s.

A different kind of Broker truly equals a different kind of result. Knowledge is in the Knowing – Come Know With Us.

Growing up, my mother would test the patience of my father with a common statement, “If there’s checks in the checkbook, there’s money in the bank.” While I’m not certain if my mother ever bounced any checks, I am certain that my father didn’t find humor in my mom’s lack of ownership with managing money.

This same notion of, “If there’s checks in the checkbook, there’s money in the bank,” is one that my wife had with healthcare spend. Now I do need to make a disclaimer, my wife is a very intelligent woman who manages our finances extremely well and is a disciplined, frugal spender, yet when it comes to the money we spend on healthcare, her keen sense to where each dollar is spent goes right out the window.

The blame here, though, isn’t on my wife; it lies solely, square on my shoulders. As an Employee Benefits Consultant, it’s my job to understand healthcare spend. It’s my job to teach other people where their dollars are going. And it’s my job to promote consumerism in healthcare. There’s an adage that you should leave work at work, yet I don’t think the meaning was intended to ignore the realism in exerting your strengths when they support your home life.

For years, I have made our family’s annual benefit elections and just told my wife if there was a change. For years, I let her take the kids to the doctor and I managed the EOB’s (explanation of benefits) and doctor bills. And for years, my wife and I never talked about our healthcare spend. True ignorance on my part and a disservice to our family, my wife, and the notion of practicing what I preach.

Acknowledging that I missed the mark, this open enrollment, we tried something different – I didn’t make the decisions regarding the healthcare for our family, rather, my wife did. Sure, I had done the math, examined whether our company funded HSA or HRA would best suit our needs, and I came up with a suitable selection for our family, yet if I am truly going to get my wife engaged into where our healthcare dollars are going, it starts with the ownership of making our benefits selection.

As expected, my wife put on her “frugal spender” hat and dove right in. She forecasted our Brady Bunch like family (3 boys + 3 girls + My wife and I – the Alice) expenses and calculated estimated costs for what for sure needs to be medically accounted for and the “what if’s” of healthcare spend. Once her due-diligence was completed, we regrouped and had a really good conversation about, of all things, healthcare. Our decision was made together and started additional discussions about our healthcare spend and maximizing our consumerism.

So what did this teach me, to enhance what I excel at, communication. Having the support of my company, R&R Insurance, behind me, we developed a 12-step progressive communication process (12-PCP) which gets families talking about healthcare spend with a true focus on consumerism and maximizing both employer and employee dollars disbursed on healthcare.

I invite you to share in our 12-PCP. It’s worked so well for my family that now my wife says, “So, now that we’re interlocked with our healthcare spend and committed to understanding where our dollars are truly going, maybe we can look into completing the Brady Bunch and add an Alice.”

“Sorry, Honey, I didn’t hear you, guess I need to fine-tune my listening skills, too.”

For more information on R&R's Employee Benefits Practice, contact Jeff Sewell or visit www.myknowledgebroker.com/health-insurance.