By the time you read this, the question, "What will they do in Washington (with health care)?" may be answered - but let's not wait for clarity there.
In our business, year-end results for 2009 will be in, and so will the majority of business placed for January. The extent of economic recovery will be reflected in such indicators as fourth quarter consumer spending and corporate results.
While the outlook for 2010 in some areas is unclear, there is clear information available that can assist us in planning groups and products to target during 2010. Consider the list of occupations projected to have the largest job growth over the next 10 years as forecast by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The full table referred to is available on the BLS Web site, along with many other resources.
Health care is on everyone's mind, and it should be no surprise that health care-related job growth tops the list. The BLS expects we will have 581,500 more registered nurses in 2018 than we did in 2008. The second fastest growing employment segment is home health aides, adding almost 461,000 jobs. In all, adding nursing aides, orderlies, medical assistants, LPN's and physicians to the above, the BLS expects almost 1.8 million new health care jobs to be created over the next decade.
After health care, other occupational areas forecast for the most growth include customer service representatives, food service workers, retail salespersons, and general office clerks. High growth professional areas include accountants and auditors (279,400 new jobs), teachers (501,100 additional) and management analysts (growing by 178,300 workers).
There is also a definite trend toward employers hiring more temporary employees during the recovery (see New York Times, "Labor Data Show Surge in Hiring.")
In all, the expectation is creation of a healthy mix of new jobs at both basic and professional levels. We can expect the doors to be open for a range of different types of benefit plans to meet the needs of these diverse employee types.
Let's consider some of the alternatives, and markets they may fit. Interest in traditional life and disability income benefits seems to have increased over the tough times of the past few months. If anything, people are more aware than ever of their family's financial security needs. Groups of younger employees do a lot of internet financial transactions and are great prospects for identity theft related coverage and services. Since they often will not have an established relationship with an attorney, they are also good prospects for a plan offering legal access.
While you might think health care workers would be less interested than the general public in supplemental medical products like critical illness, in many ways the opposite is true. They are aware that when a critical illness strikes, even those who enjoy very good medical benefits are often faced with expenses not covered by a medical plan. For example, they witness spouses losing income while on FMLA, they hear about costly family travel related to medical treatment, necessary adaptations to homes and autos, and drains on retirement savings to pay these bills.
On the employer front, there is a growing interest in wellness-related services, and wellness management benefits are a growing business.
Whatever happens in Washington over the next few months, you can be sure there will continue to be a rich and varied set of benefit design opportunities for a rich and varied customer base.
