New Orleans Association of Health Underwriters

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Board sets strategic goals for 06-07
• NOAHU members awarded Triple Crown
• Sales Corner: Handling Cranky Customers
• Surveys Shows More Focus On Worker Health
• Health Care Transparency
• Medicare Part D SEP
  

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NAHU Issues Annual Report
To Members

NAHU has produced it's second annual report to members on the progress of the association. Click here to read more.  We will also have copies available at the September Meeting

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NOAHU Wins National Retention Award

The New Orleans chapter was awarded the award for highest retention in the nation at the NAHU Annual Convention in San Francisco in June.  President Kenny Collins was on hand to accept the award from President John Nelson as the crowd gave us a standing ovation.  Thanks to all of the members who helped us win this high honor.

2007: Making It Happen

The New Orleans AHU Board of Directors met last month and set goals for our chapter for the upcoming year.  We have set some ambitious goals and we hope that each of you will help us get there.  At the National Conference in San Francisco, New Orleans was awarded with the National Retention award for having the highest retention rate last year in the country.  We started off the year at 191 members. 

Some of the goals for the 2006-2007 board year where we need your help are:

1)      240 members & 90% retention by 3/31/07
2)      Offer 20 or more hours of continuing education credit
3)      Increase attendance at luncheons
4)      Establish active committees
5)      Conduct a minimum of 4 public service projects
6)      Have 20% of members giving more than $50 to HUPAC (national Health Underwriters Political Action Committee) by December 31, 2006 and have at least 10% of members giving to HAPAC (Louisiana state Health Agents Political Action Committee)
7)      10% or more of members qualifying for the President’s Triple Crown Award or Leading Producers Round Table

We have made a lot of progress in the past couple of years and there is no better time than now to continue that move forward.  Throughout the year, we will update you on the progress we are making.

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NOAHU Members Awarded President's Triple Crown

New Orleans members Denny Ebersole, Cindy Osborne & Jennifer Toups were all awarded the NAHU President's Triple Crown Award as of the second quarter 2006.  Denny and Cindy are 1st time award winners and this is Jennifer's 3rd time receiving this honor.  This is the third year of the Triple Crown Award program which recognizes members for contributions to the advancement of NAHU's mission. 

To acheive this award, a member must recruit 2 new members, send 3 Operation Shout messages to their legislators and contribute a minimum of $10 a month or $150 annually to HUPAC, NAHU's political action committee.  Recipients are awarded a gold crown lapel win with the year qualified.

Sales Corner:
6 Ways to Handle a Cranky Customer

With just a little attention to the details in a business, you can turn that cranky customer into your number one cheerleader!

C- Communication Pitfalls: Hearing and listening are two different things. Most businesses make customers cranky by not "listening" to what they want. Here is an example. I found a new hairstylist and told her, "I like my hair styled with some soft curls, definitely not straight. When she finished doing my hair it was poker straight and she said, "Is that good enough to get you out the door"? Out the door?? Did she hear what I said? Her lack of paying attention will cause me to try another hairstylist the next time! Customers get cranky when you don't pay attention and do your best at satisfying their request.

R= Responsibility Sharing: Take responsibility for getting the job done right. Most of us are tired of businesses make excuses. "My computer is down; That's not my department; I just started here; I don't know how to do that" are all "lines" that we hear employees say that make us cranky. It is the responsibility of every company to hire and train and equip employees with the tools and answers they need to satisfy their customers. If your employees ever used one of those previous lines on a customer then I will bet your customer felt cranky. Customers get cranky when you waste their time and don't have the answers they need!

A= Aware of Employee Performance: Do you know how your employees represent your company? I think about big companies and I think about the thousands of employees they have and how each one of them represent that big company everyday. I may never meet the president of a big company but I meet their "representative" everyday I do business with them. I form an opinion about a big corporation based on the work performance of one of their hourly employees.

N = Noodle- Did you use it? When was the last time you heard someone say, "Use your noodle"? I admit, it is an old cliché but it makes perfect sense in business. Using your "noodle" means to use your brain and think for yourself. Customers just want an easy answer to their problems and they need you to provide that answer as quickly as possible.

It is even better if you can use your "noodle" and save the customer some money! Most employees have gone through a training program and learned the basics but when it comes to applying them to real life situations, they get stumped. Customers get cranky when employees aren't problem solvers.

K= Kind: A simple four letter word that keeps customers coming back. If I had a choice of what one word I would want to describe my employees, I think I would want it to be "kind". A kind employee doesn't pre-judge or humiliate customers. They satisfy the customer and never in an egotistical way. They never raise their voice, they are understanding, they smile and they know how to develop a relationship by being kind. Which one of your employees would you describe as being "kind"? Customers get cranky when employees are less than "kind."

Y= Young - Are you up-to-date in how you run your business? Many assumptions a customer makes about a business have to do with first impressions. Those first impressions can be based on advertising, a physical building, a website, a company's inventory, and even the look and dress of the employees. Right or wrong people make assumptions. If businesses aren't current on their website, why would I think they are current on how they run the business or the newest products that they could be carrying?

Newer, better, and faster are all part of your customer's vocabulary. Customers get cranky when they find out there was a newer version of something and you don't have it!

It's easy to say, "Stop being so cranky", but the truth is, we usually have a valid reason for that furrowed brow we wear. The faster our pace of life gets the less patience we have with people in general. What did you do today in your business to make a customer "cranky"? You see, we will never conduct business 100% perfectly everyday in every way. If you're lucky, your cranky customers will vocally tell you what you need to do to improve.

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Study: More companies offer consumer-driven health plans

The number of employers offering consumer-driven health plans increased from 22% in 2005 to 28% in 2006, according to a new study. Of the firms polled that didn't yet offer a related plan, 40% said they intended to do so.

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Survey: More Focus Is On Worker Health, Well-Being

Professionals charged with helping employees create work-life effectiveness are focusing mostly on programs related to health and well-being in 2006, according to a recent survey.

The annual "State of the Work-Life Profession" survey was published by the Alliance for Work-Life Progress, a nonprofit professional association focused on advancing work-life effectiveness. AWLP is part of WorldatWork, a nonprofit professional association for human resource professionals.

Survey respondents were asked to identify which of seven areas of work-life effectiveness would receive the most attention from their organization this year in order to attract, motivate and retain employees. Those areas were: workplace flexibility, paid/unpaid time off, health and well-being, dependent care assistance, financial support, community involvement and culture change interventions.

According to the survey, the greatest emphasis this year will be on health and well-being initiatives (34% in 2006, up from 29% in 2005) such as stress reduction, smoking cessation and onsite fitness programs.

Workplace flexibility, including alternative work schedules and telework arrangements, was mentioned as a close second priority at 30%.

"This ranking is not accidental," AWLP Director Kathie Lingle said. "The National Study of Changing Workforce (Families and Work Institute, 2002) reveals that people in workplaces characterized by high levels of flexibility are both mentally and physically healthier than employees in more rigid environments."

The State of the Work-Life Professional survey was conducted in January 2006. Surveys were sent to 516 AWLP members with a response rate of 19% (96 responses.)

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Health Care Transparency:
Empowering Consumers To Save On Quality Care

President Bush Signed An Executive Order To Help Increase The Transparency Of America's Health Care System – Empowering Americans To Find Better Value And Better Care.  To spend their health care dollars wisely, Americans need to know their options in advance, know the quality of doctors and hospitals in their area, and know what procedures will cost.  When Americans buy new cars, they have access to consumer research on safety, reliability, price, and performance – and they should be able to expect the same when they purchase health care.

This Executive Order Directs Federal Agencies That Administer Or Sponsor Federal Health Insurance Programs To:

1.  Increase Transparency In Pricing. The Executive Order directs Federal agencies to share with beneficiaries information about prices paid to health care providers for procedures. 

2.  Increase Transparency In Quality.  The Executive Order directs Federal agencies to share with beneficiaries information on the quality of services provided by doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers. 

3.  Encourage Adoption Of Health Information Technology (IT) Standards.  The Executive Order directs Federal agencies to use improved health IT systems to facilitate the rapid exchange of health information.

4.  Provide Options That Promote Quality And Efficiency In Health Care.  The Executive Order directs Federal agencies to develop and identify approaches that facilitate high quality and efficient care. 

The Federal Government Is A Major Participant In The Health Care Market.  Medicare beneficiaries, health insurance beneficiaries at the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs, and Federal employees represent about one-quarter of Americans covered by health insurance.  This Executive Order builds on the Federal government's existing efforts to release Medicare payment information for individual health care providers.

Consumers Will Receive Information Through A Collaborative Process.  The Federal government will work collaboratively in this process, building on efforts by quality alliances that include a broad range of health care stakeholders to improve quality and cost information.  Measures of quality at the provider and health plan level will be developed from private and government sources and will not involve developing or releasing data at the individual patient level.  Participation in this process in each area will be governed by various regional stakeholders, including local providers, employers, and health plans and insurers.  Consumers will be able to access information from a variety of potential sources, including insurance companies, employers, and Medicare-sponsored websites.