By Mick Constantinou, Advisor, Employee Benefits
Connelly, Carlisle, Fields, & Nichols, A UBA Partner Firm
There is an old paradoxical adage that, “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit, while wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.”
In terms of the promises of the health care reform law (keep, access and affordable), paradoxes like the tomato have come to light, but the Tomato Paradox relates directly to the difference between having knowledge and commanding wisdom.
Most Americans are aware of health care reform and the massive changes to how health insurance and health care will be accessed and regulated beginning this fall. Some companies and individuals have the knowledge (or think they have the knowledge) of how the law will impact them directly, but the variable is the source of their knowledge and whether or not that knowledge is based in fact, political rhetoric or meetings at the water cooler.
The other variable is wisdom. Employers may have the knowledge of “what they must do,” or “do not have to do,” based on the number of FTEs they employ, whether they are fully-insured or self-insured and other factors, but many have not been afforded access to the wisdom to answer the simple question: “What should we do?”
Regardless of whether an employer decides to “play or pay” in 2014 and beyond, there are other subjective factors (hidden costs) of health care reform that will impact company culture and strategic direction. These factors need to be considered in concert with the results of modeling and compliance tools orchestrated by a trusted advisor, including but not limited to:
- Increased reporting burdens, whether you “play or pay”
- Recruitment and retention challenges related to changes in total compensation
- Impacts to employee productivity and morale
- Changes in taxable income for both employers and employees
In simple terms, knowledge is information and facts of which someone is aware, and wisdom is the ability to make correct, common sense judgments and decisions based on the facts. Wisdom is an intangible quality gained through experience and expertise.
What separates insurance sales people from trusted advisors is the experience, expertise and wisdom brought to the unique challenges faced (and overcome) during the benefits renewal process in the era of health care reform.
