How is this service
different from that of any other sales organization that submits
directly to the insurer?
Ninety percent (90%) of our staff of 40 employees have nothing
to do with sales. They exist only to service your clients. Upon
receiving a properly completed and signed application, we handle
all subscriber problems with the insurer, do the billing and collecting
and even do financial counseling for subscribers who are in arrears.
You have no responsibility for any of those functions although
you are welcome to be involved if you choose.
And that’s different
from your competitors?
Yes. You know that your contacts with most submitting organizations
are brokers. While they are often conscientious and want to service
your account, their first responsibility is to sell. Many times
the broker is not available because of sales commitments.
Your contact at TAI is the Enrollment Department. Its staff
is never in the field or busy cold calling. They are there to
service your subscriber. You may work with the Enrollment Department
in person, by phone, by fax, by email or by real time chat on
our website during working hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
What is my involvement in
the application process?
Bring us a properly completed and signed application and you
have no other responsibilities.
What if the insurer has additional
questions prior to approval?
We process the application. If the insurer has additional questions
about the subscribing company, we take care of getting the information.
We notify the applicant and you when the application is accepted
or rejected.
How do you protect my business?
First a brief explanation about association insurance. The insurer
does not recognize broker of record status for each individual
company in an Association Plan. It recognizes an association’s
Insurance Administrator as the broker for the association. In
this case, that would be TAI.
We, however, will contractually recognize your broker of record
status and we do not allow transfer of that status to another
broker for any reason other than loss of license or your censure
by the Insurance Commissioner for regulatory violations.
You will receive a written acknowledgement of your ownership
of the account so long as it remains with TAI. The subscriber
cannot discharge you for lack of service or by succumbing to the
sales pitch of a competing agent. And the insurer will only allow
that subscriber to transfer to another association in the month
of January. That eliminates rate-chasing and unscrupulous/misleading
sales pitches from competitors.
Are there any reductions in
commission for any of your services?
None. As opposed to other organizations that begin taking back
points for services, your rate with us is not reduced for any
reason.
Are there any other charges
I will be assessed?
Insurance materials are free, i.e. booklets, directories, etc.
Because these materials always generate Priority Mail charges,
we will charge back those fees if you require us to mail materials
to the prospective subscriber.
You are welcome to come in get up to 10 packages at a time if
you wish to mail them yourself. We need 24 hours notice in order
to get those packages ready for you, and you must specify the
products for which you need information.
I have been offered some very
high commissions on health insurance. Will you match that?
No we will not. What we will do is pay a fair commission for
the delivery of a signed application and provide all servicing
of the account. We take nothing back for providing all maintenance
at our expense. You need do nothing more than collect your monthly
commission check.
On the issue of high commissions, it is common knowledge that
brokers paying agents all of their earned commissions are tacking
on charges to the subscriber. In many cases those extra charges
are open to debate. TAI will do extensive advertising this fall
on radio and in print. We will be addressing the practice of agents
building their business at the expense of the subscriber’s
business. We will also be addressing the issue of questionable
associations. We will be pinpointing specific charges and explaining
why they are non-essential and purely for the purpose of allowing
brokers to overcompensate agents at the expense of the subscriber.
The practice harms the industry and threatens to erode the value
of an important product—association health insurance.
We welcome your affiliation with us in the process of delivering
affordable healthcare to businesses without diluting the association
concept.
