EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor-in-Chief | J.B. Hiers
Munich American Re
Managing Editor | Janice Fox
Munich American Re
GUAA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President | Phil Lacy
Towers Perrin
Vice President | Carolyn Pollard
ING
Curt Zepeda | ING
Ann Marie Wood | Anthem BCBS
Jim Hiers | Munich American Re
Jim Wilmot | BCBS Illinois
Steve Ginsburg | consultant
Kim Miller | PacifiCare Health Sys
A
recent LIMRA survey (Third Quarter Review 2006) indicates that while dental
sales overall have been somewhat flat in 2006 (3% growth in sales year-to-date
based on new premiums), the greatest growth has been seen in the PPO segment.
Through third quarter 2006, PPO sales grew 9% in new premium and 7% in new subscribers
as compared to Indemnity (non-PPO) and DHMO, both of which had double digit decreases
in new premium and subscribers.
With this focus on PPO products, it is important to be able to meet your client’s
network expectations. Ruth Ann Woodring, FSA, MAAA, with Ruark Consulting LLC,
will present her latest findings on PPO network size and discounts. Her presentation
will address the relationship between discounts and the size of the network
– sometimes it is necessary to grow your network even if you have to pay
more to get there. In addition, we will learn how to use the incumbent’s
claims data to estimate how our discounts compare to the competitor’s.
As the January 2008 renewal season approaches, Jim Helton, FSA, MAAA, CS Group
Benefits, will share with us some strategies for successfully placing renewals.
Tentative as of 1/12/07
For most carriers, submitting a formal RFP bid is a labor intensive task. Most
of us wonder whether our bid will differentiate us in any way from our competition
and what we could do to increase our chances of being a finalist. A Towers Perrin
executive will present the bid process from the consultant’s point of
view and ultimately share what it takes to make it to the short list of finalists.
