Howard Danzig’s Post

Overall, in our opinion, we have made paying for healthcare and prescriptions much more complicated and expensive than it needs to be. Because few employers wish to take the time to understand the internal dynamics of how insurance companies and their middlemen add to actual cost, the bundled premiums continue to add and hide incredible additional expense without actually adding value. There is a simple reality that there is an actual cost of health care and medical services and prescriptions, but because so many have been conditioned to pay for everything with premiums, few groups have any idea what actual costs are, and most participants in a group plan cares about nothing more than their deductible, co-pays and out of pocket. Further, few groups that we have the opportunity to talk to ever demand to know what their actual claims costs are from their insurance companies. All most do is seek insurance premium quotes from different insurance companies but have no actual idea as to what they have bought or are buying with their premiums. In reality, you can’t control costs if you don’t know what they are, and groups continue to buy medical and Rx services blindly with premiums. The fact is premiums are driven up by the amount of internal costs of medical and Rx services. Costs are not driven down from the top with premium. We continue to advocate and show employers how to eliminate expensive middlemen like PBM’s and excessive insurance company premiums for services that can be accessed directly. We continue to show employers how to unbundle the components of a bundled inflated premium and benefit from much more realistic and cost-effective pricing. There are no gimmicks to reducing costs that are anymore effective than identifying real costs and identifying buried and hidden excesses and eliminating them. The solutions are simple. The results are positive and everybody wins. If you want to learn more, contact us. The Ecchic Group 314-997-8865 www.ecchic.com 11704 Lackland Industrial Drive St. Louis, MO 63146 You are invited to join our upcoming informational Zoom on July 17th at 9:00 AM Central Standard Time. RSVP for free here: www.ecchic.com/events/

We have had the opportunity to engage in a dialogue about health insurance with a small city over the course of this past year. This city has approximately 35 employees plus dependents on their plan with their current carrier. The premium that they are paying is $95,000/month according to their financial director. Not only are they paying $95,000/mo., or over $1,100,000/year, they have absolutely no claims information which means that they have no way of comparing actual cost of services used versus premiums being charged to pay for it with. If they unbundle the premiums and break all this down to their basic fundamental cost components. By doing this, they would lower their cost by well into six figures. The barrier to even evaluating the economic advantages of eliminating middlemen and knowing actual costs is the very city officials charged with this responsibility. This is a very common occurrence. The money that we see wasted on unnecessary bloated premiums to provide a pathway to healthcare for staff is absolutely astonishing. Decisions like this waste their employees’ money also because they have to pay to cover dependents and also pay a percentage of the monthly premium for themselves. We implemented our method for a small city with a similar demographic whose staff was almost double the above and whose benefits were actually better. Their costs are running about half the cost of the above example with almost twice the number of people. Further, they now know to the penny what their costs are. Therefore, oftentimes the biggest barrier to reducing the cost of health insurance plans is the very people being impacted by this runaway system. I am a former employer who got fed up with being exploited by not knowing what our actual costs were that were hidden by insurance premiums. Information unlocks substantial opportunities to identifying wasted expense hidden by the artificial barriers created by the major insurance carriers and PBM’s. Unfortunately, the above-mentioned city paying $95,000/mo for health insurance will continue to be exploited by this system which, in my opinion, is constructed to benefit handsomely due to these decisions of inertia. To learn more, you are invited to join our upcoming information Zoom session. Register now at www.ecchic.com/events/

In talking to various employer groups, we often are told that they have “cadillac” plans, and they are quite satisfied. This perspective and commentary often comes from middle level management such as office administrators , HR directors, department managers, etc. and as a result the discussion seldom gets beyond that point in order to reach the actual decision maker level. The issue, however, is really not how good the benefits are, but how they are paid for. The health insurance system has masterfully indoctrinated and hypnotized so many into perceiving and believing that their “benefits” come from an insurance company like Blue Cross or United Healthcare. Few realize that their benefits actually come from themselves. It’s the very dollars that these groups provide to the insurance companies to pay their medical bills. They don’t realize how much the cost of their healthcare and related services which these people view as “benefits” is increased by these blindly bundled insurance premiums. In reality, the cost for the same benefits decreases by unbundling the components of a health benefit plan. Most groups have little or no information about what their actual costs of services used is. The unfortunate result of creating barriers to information ends up costing group plans and their participants - an inordinate amount of money that they don’t have to spend. I am astonished at the amount of money employers are wasting on inflated premiums and overpriced middlemen like PBM’s that can easily be eliminated, resulting in lower costs to everyone without affecting benefits at all. Rising health insurance premiums are a concern for most employers, however lack of detailed, in-depth information should also be of significant concern.   To learn more, you are invited to join our next informational webinar on June 19th. Registration is free.

✨ Elevate your events with our latest blog post! 🎉 Uncover the secrets to crafting unforgettable moments. Ready to redefine your event planning game? Dive in now! 🌟 #EventPlanning #EventProfs #BlogLaunch

📢 Partner announcement! On the cusp of revealing the venue for the 2024 THIS Industry Networking Party, we’re delighted to announce UnitedHealthcare Global Global as a sponsor of this year’s event. For over 40 years, UnitedHealthcare Global has created and managed plans at the local market level in over 130 countries for the world’s mobile populations. Their mission has been clear: ‘To help people lead healthier lives and help make the healthcare system work better for everyone’. Join Louis Kaszczak and the team on 11 September at the THIS Industry Networking Party and discover what UHC can do for your business. 🎉 But where in London will the global travel insurance and IPMI industry be gathering for this year’s event? Let’s just say that it’s a true hidden gem, nestled among vaulted arches that once guarded the spices, silks, and gold that enriched London in years gone by. Guests will be treated to delicious food, drinks, and entertainment - in a space where lords and traders once rubbed shoulders after a day's business. If your business is in - or with - #travel and #health insurance, sign up to the waitlist to be first in line when limited tickets go on sale next week Admission to the THIS Industry Networking Party is included if you're attending the INNOVATE THIS travel insurance conference on 11 & 12 September at Tobacco Dock London. Stay tuned for the venue reveal this afternoon! #networking #travelinsurance #ipmi #insuranceevent #travelindustry #trm #riskmanagement #airambulance #travelassistance #healthinsurance #costcontainment #underwriting #payments #businessdevelopment  #innovatethis

Our Broker Community Events series is in its fourth year, and our “Pre-Summer” event was a real success – for the first time, we’ve expanded it for two days. To create a robust platform for best-practices, Allianz Consulting, as part of Allianz Services, established the Allianz Broker Community. Now, we are pleased to announce that the community has grown to more than 300 members from over 35 Operating Entities. Here are some key takeaways from our most recent event:  1. Broker distribution is a major growth driver. 2. A “clear-cut” broker segmentation approach is essential for unlocking potential 3. Digital-driven segments benefit from dedicated Key Account Management models 4. Cutting-edge broker-Customer Relationship Management applications are key for mastering broker portfolio steering. We thank all our speakers! Once again, it’s been a real “lighthouse” event. Thanks to Miquel Magem, Albina Sarycheva, Maik Braun, Merle Heisch, Katarina Klabes, Bastian Dütz and Andrew Montgomery. Also a big “kudos” to our Allianz Consulting team for making such events possible - Thomas Bauch, Stefan Schnichels, Jurek Kühnert, Emal Märkl, Dorothea Krebs, Jarinyaporn Kantalert, Maximilian Mayer, Josephine Seibert-Daiker, Philine Sand, Marwin Müller, Laurin Schulze, Sebastian Glathe, Désirée Sianghom-Neurohr and Oliver Chlela. Furthering our consultants’ education in Allianz’s core industry of insurance is just one of the many ways we ensure constant growth of our people here at Allianz Consulting. Want to grow together with us? Take a look at open positions on our careers page: https://lnkd.in/eYKKBHjd Join us. Let's care for tomorrow. #AllianzConsulting #AllianzServices #LetsCareForTomorrow

Event cancellation insurance is essential for organizations hosting #tradeshows, #conferences, concerts, festivals, celebrations or sporting events to maintain in order to improve their chances of recovering their losses if they cannot hold a planned event. his first blog with Corporate Event News, Art Garrett, general counsel with Keller and Heckman LLP, shares some important considerations for how #eventprofs can maximize their potential coverage. #meetings #meetingsandevents https://lnkd.in/gaEJkT82

Public liability (PL) insurance is not legally required in Australia. It is, however, highly recommended for sports and mass participation events that interact with the public: that is, all sports and all event operators. In the absence of PL cover, or if inadequate cover is in place, a sport or an event operator faces potentially significant risks, including but not limited to: legal expenses: legal costs and compensation could be awarded against a sport or event if a person is injured or property damaged and the sport or event is found to have caused or contributed to the loss. Without insurance protection, the sport's Directors or the event operator could be found personally liable for these costs; business interruption: put simply, legal claims can be very disruptive to manage and can impact on business operations in ways other than just financial; reputational damage: having to manage claims without insurance may well lead to significant reputational damage and a dilution of customer and stakeholder trust. Maintaining solid insurance protection is a sign of sound organisational governance; and contractual issues: it is difficult, if not impossible, to operate a sport or stage an event in the absence of PL cover, particularly if local government and emergency service permits are required. ROI 4 Events, with its wealth of sport, event and insurance sector experience, understands these issues. In a coup for the sport and mass participation event sectors, ROI 4 Events has secured the support of global insurance titan, Canopius, to offer essential Liability Insurance cover to ROI 4 Events' clients (via Lockton Brokers). Canopius is a global specialty insurance provider of market-leading underwriting services in over 130 countries. Get in touch with us at www.roi4events.com so ROI 4 Events and Lockton and Canopius can help you with your liability insurance. You will be in the caring and responsive hands of sports, events & insurance experts who understand your issues and challenges having faced and dealt with them themselves. 

Do you know what one of the most important aspects of a successful event is? It may not be exactly what you think… One of the most important aspects to be on top of to ensure you have a great event is to ensure that all permits, licences, and insurance are secured well in advance of your event! Yes, it’s not the most glamourous, but it is a hugely important component to pulling off a safe and successful event. In this document we give you a run down of some of the most common permits, licences, and insurance that you may need before the crowds gather. Feel free to save this document for future reference, and if this is not your forte, skip the tedious process of securing all of this and reach out to us to help put your event together - we’ve got the experience to get it done for you. If you found this helpful, let us know in the comments! 🙌 #edmontoneventplanning #eventconsiderations #albertaeventplanning #yegevents #eventinsurance

Event cancellation insurance is essential for organizations hosting #tradeshows, #conferences, concerts, festivals, celebrations or sporting #events to maintain in order to improve their chances of recovering their losses if they can't hold a planned event. In his first blog with TSNN, Art Garrett, general counsel with Keller and Heckman LLP, shares some important considerations for how #eventprofs can maximize their potential coverage. #tradeshow https://lnkd.in/eDRSsjj8