Here we are and it is already October 2011. Before we know it we will be in the full swing of 2012. How fast time goes when you have your head down pushing through life's obstacles. We will be at 2014 in hearts beat at this rate. What does that mean to someone in the health insurance industry? It means that we will be seeing more change at rates we have never seen before. As I contemplate those changes I can't help but think what the landscape of those changes will look like.
I believe that one of the biggest changes we will see are carriers that move from being all to everyone to offering a highly specialized product to certain groups. No longer will we see multiple carriers with similar products and pricing. We might possibly see one carrier move away from group benefits all together, another carrier that specializes in small mom and pop companies with lower paid employees. They may specialize in high deductible plans, moving away from HMO's all together. We will see another carrier that offers dozens of plans to employer groups of various economic backgrounds. Making sure that every employee within that company can have a plan that offers a level of service that they can afford. If they make more money, they can buy a richer plan and vise-verse. We will see one captive carrier dominate the field with it's streamlined practices and no frills service. Who will dominate the medicare supplemental group? I believe that one carrier will. Sure the other carriers may keep plans available to people not in their marketing focus. But they will keep the cost so high for those products it wont make sense for anyone to be on those plans.
Will this be better for the consumer? Maybe. Hopefully. Will this be better for the broker? I don't know yet. It seems to me that people will still need help navigating this complex world. And as long as there is a need, we still may have a job to do.
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