Voluntary Benefits
Published by Ronnie Spedale on October 12th, 2021
A little over a month ago, Hurricane Ida hit New Orleans. Streets flooded, power went out, supplies became scarce and many of us living in the area were deeply concerned about what the future held. And, while my family and I quickly made plans for how we were going to manage, insurance was the furthest thing from my mind.
But, as with many things, time gives you clarity. In looking back, a lot of what we faced with the hurricane mirrors what I see in the insurance world in some surprising ways.
We thought we were prepared
In the days before the hurricane we thought we were prepared. We stocked up on food, water and supplies. I even ordered a power generator a while back months in preparation for the possibility of a situation like this.
But, what is it they say? “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”. The reality is there were many unforeseen effects of Hurricane Ida hitting us that I was not prepared for: the difficulty of travel, the larger impact on public infrastructure, the inability to get most goods at stores and many more. Also, as it turned out, my power generator was on back order and didn’t arrive in time.
So, what does that have to do with insurance? Well, it’s a perfect analogy for the situation many employees today face. Employees, think that, because they have medical insurance they’re covered. And, sadly, many don’t realize the truth until they face a difficult situation. The amount of people on HDHPs or unaware of the some of the non-medical costs of an injury or illness means that, just like me, they think they are prepared, but may be faced with serious challenges. I can tell you from recent experience, it’s not a fun experience and it’s a situation that I’ve dedicated my career to helping people avoid.
It’s about community
The turnout from my community in the aftermath of the hurricane was fantastic. We all banded together to check in on one another, share advice, work together and offer much-needed supplies if we happened to have extra. In fact, it’s thanks to my neighbor that I was able to onboard at Trustmark at all – I still didn’t have power but a neighbor let me use their home office to get started in my new role.
It’s the same kind of arrangement we have with our insurance carriers. In paying premium, we’re sharing the responsibility as a community with the carrier AND with other policyholders to pay for treatment when it’s needed. It may not be a perfect one-to-one comparison to what we went through with the hurricane, but the principle is identical. It’s one of the inspiring things about getting to work in the industry – many don’t always realize it, but it’s about a collective responsibility to get through tough times.
Find ways to communicate
Here’s an interesting tip I picked up about hurricane survival: many people who flee their homes in preparation for the hurricane leave their outside lights on at their house. That way, when the power does come back on, there’s an easily identifiable signal. Their neighbors can easily tell when power is back on and quickly let them know that they can return.
In this case, it’s rudimentary, but it’s an easy way to communicate and pass along messages. Communication made our hurricane response more effective. Communication does the same thing for your insurance protection. Proper education prior to enrollment helps make sure employees make better choices about their benefits and that they are, in turn, better protected from the unexpected. If it wasn’t for finding ways to communicate, it would have made managing the aftermath of the hurricane more difficult. And, if we don’t find ways to communicate with employees, it’s going to make their enrollment more difficult.
The last several weeks have been full of adversity for my community. But, I’ve seen a lot of inspiring things as well. For me, that’s the final lesson to take away from all of this about the insurance industry. Will there be adversity at times? Yes. But by partnering with the right companies and the right people, we can work together to provide better results for our colleagues and our policyholders. Best of all, I think I’ve landed in just the right place to do that here at Trustmark.
But, as with many things, time gives you clarity. In looking back, a lot of what we faced with the hurricane mirrors what I see in the insurance world in some surprising ways.
We thought we were prepared
In the days before the hurricane we thought we were prepared. We stocked up on food, water and supplies. I even ordered a power generator a while back months in preparation for the possibility of a situation like this.
But, what is it they say? “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”. The reality is there were many unforeseen effects of Hurricane Ida hitting us that I was not prepared for: the difficulty of travel, the larger impact on public infrastructure, the inability to get most goods at stores and many more. Also, as it turned out, my power generator was on back order and didn’t arrive in time.
So, what does that have to do with insurance? Well, it’s a perfect analogy for the situation many employees today face. Employees, think that, because they have medical insurance they’re covered. And, sadly, many don’t realize the truth until they face a difficult situation. The amount of people on HDHPs or unaware of the some of the non-medical costs of an injury or illness means that, just like me, they think they are prepared, but may be faced with serious challenges. I can tell you from recent experience, it’s not a fun experience and it’s a situation that I’ve dedicated my career to helping people avoid.
It’s about community
The turnout from my community in the aftermath of the hurricane was fantastic. We all banded together to check in on one another, share advice, work together and offer much-needed supplies if we happened to have extra. In fact, it’s thanks to my neighbor that I was able to onboard at Trustmark at all – I still didn’t have power but a neighbor let me use their home office to get started in my new role.
It’s the same kind of arrangement we have with our insurance carriers. In paying premium, we’re sharing the responsibility as a community with the carrier AND with other policyholders to pay for treatment when it’s needed. It may not be a perfect one-to-one comparison to what we went through with the hurricane, but the principle is identical. It’s one of the inspiring things about getting to work in the industry – many don’t always realize it, but it’s about a collective responsibility to get through tough times.
Find ways to communicate
Here’s an interesting tip I picked up about hurricane survival: many people who flee their homes in preparation for the hurricane leave their outside lights on at their house. That way, when the power does come back on, there’s an easily identifiable signal. Their neighbors can easily tell when power is back on and quickly let them know that they can return.
In this case, it’s rudimentary, but it’s an easy way to communicate and pass along messages. Communication made our hurricane response more effective. Communication does the same thing for your insurance protection. Proper education prior to enrollment helps make sure employees make better choices about their benefits and that they are, in turn, better protected from the unexpected. If it wasn’t for finding ways to communicate, it would have made managing the aftermath of the hurricane more difficult. And, if we don’t find ways to communicate with employees, it’s going to make their enrollment more difficult.
The last several weeks have been full of adversity for my community. But, I’ve seen a lot of inspiring things as well. For me, that’s the final lesson to take away from all of this about the insurance industry. Will there be adversity at times? Yes. But by partnering with the right companies and the right people, we can work together to provide better results for our colleagues and our policyholders. Best of all, I think I’ve landed in just the right place to do that here at Trustmark.
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Written by Ronnie Spedale
Regional Sales Director, Gulf Coast
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