Association Charging me $1,000 to BOR a group???

[Consultant]

I have a group in Coloroado that is part of Contractors Health Trust. The group has health insurance through their association plan that is re insured by Anthem Blue Cross. The Association is stating that I must also be part of the Association to be a broker with this group. The membership dues are $1,000 a year. And all the membership benefits are of no use to me. I just want to be the producer of this group and keep my $1,000!

What do you guys think?

 

[WTX2WY]

I would look at it as an expense, just like airfare, rental car, hotel, meals, supplies, etc.

If your commissions from the group justify the cost and the group is easy to work with, then I would do it in a heartbeat.

The hardest part about this business for me is getting in front of people. If I know I can pay $X to get in front of X# of quality prospects with a reasonable expectation the commissions - expenses will net me a decent profit for that week/month then there isn't really a whole lot to think about.

Disclaimer: I have never worked with associations and don't know what type of insurance you are selling so my thoughts may not apply.

 

[leevena]

Not as unusual as you may think, have seen this many times. Difficult to provide comments because of lack of information. For example, are you in Colorado too? What is the opportunity for you to sell other groups into this association? Is this association a prevailing wage program? If yes, this can be a great product for you to market.

 

[Consultant]

This group was a referral. I'm a resident of California. I do understand that about cost of doing business. I think we all know that if you include marketing, offices, travel that agencies don't need to look for write-offs. As the posts states this is Health Insurance underwritten by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. What do you mean by a prevailing wage program?

 

[leevena]

Prevailing wage refers to business that contracts with the government. Construction is one of the more obvious and larger markets. Long story short, government prescribes the compensation that needs to be paid to employee, for example it may be, $12 per hour salary plus $3 per hours for benefits. As you can see the money is there for benefits. Benefit plan costs tend to be lower than similar, becomes very profitable for administrators and brokers.

 

[junkman]

Join the association or move the group whatever is best for the client. If not worth $1,000, call on another group. This one doesn't qualify as a prospect.

 

[Consultant]

This is a midsized group so it's definitely worth the money. I'm just a ball buster and don't let people take advantage of me. This is why I was doing my due diligence on here. Happy New Years. CHEERS!

 

[somarco]

Are you GUARANTEED to be awarded the BOR if you join?

 

[mudhound]

to join or not to join. That is the question.