The other day, I ran into Mike Smith, president of TheBrokerage, Inc., a general agency based in Lewisville, Texas. Mikewas a speaker at the 2010 Benefits Selling Expo, and made the toughdecision to skip this year’s conference after getting an invitationto attend the Masters (I don’t think anyone would fault him forthat).

The first thing Mike asked me was, “How was the mood?” The 2010Expo, you might recall, was held just weeks after the passage ofthe health reform legislation, and everyone at the event lookedlike their dog just died. The overall feel was very negative – mostattendees weren’t yet ready to move on; instead, they just wantedto complain.

One year later, in answer to Mike’s question, the mood at theexpo was completely different. Brokers had survived the first yearof health reform, stopped complaining, and began to focus on all ofthe opportunities created by the legislation. Their overallattitude was surprisingly optimistic. I witnessed a new themeemerging — a new game plan for brokers, if you will.

Though the broker’s role is obviously going to change, they willstill have a role—a very important role. Health reform makes thingsmore complicated for employers and consumers, creating a greaterneed than ever for expert guidance. In short, our clients will needhelp, and those brokers who are able to provide it should do verywell. But let’s start by taking a look at what they won’t need.

First, they won’t need a quoter. A lot of brokers seem tobelieve that their primary responsibility is to shop the market andcreate an “apples to apples” comparison of the various plan optionsin a spreadsheet format. Unfortunately for these folks, beginningin 2014, this function will be performed by the state-basedindividual and small business “SHOP” exchanges.

Consumers also won’t need brokers to help complete the variouscarrier applications and obtain pre-screened or underwritten rates.With new, standard forms and a new “modified community rating”requirement that prevents individual and small group carriers fromrating based on gender or medical conditions, the enrollmentprocess will become much less complicated. Brokers will be needed,though, to help their clients select a plan.

Yes, the exchange will present a lot of options in a uniformformat, but that doesn’t mean that consumers will understand whatthey’re looking at. And because employees will have a range ofoptions to choose from, rather than a single plan option selectedby the employer, this will become much more of an individualdecision than it has been in the past.

One-on-one enrollment meetings could become the norm. That couldbe good news for brokers who sell voluntary products, asparticipation in these plans is much higher when the broker orenroller has an opportunity to meet with employees one at a time.If you don’t currently sell voluntary, this might be a good time tostart, and when you do, it may be a good idea to team up withsomeone you trust who specializes in these sorts of products .

While you’re busy finding good people to partner with, you mightalso want to find a good HSA vendor. These consumer-directedproducts are likely to be the lowest-priced plans that meet theminimum essential coverage requirement in 2014, so they shouldbecome even more popular.

If you’ve always let your clients select their own HSA vendor orrecommended that they just “use the local bank,” you could beleaving referral money on the table and might be fielding a lot ofquestions that a good administrator could answer for you.

Finally, brokers need to start finding good technology solutionsthat can make them more efficient while solving many of theirclients’ problems. The time to invest in technology is now – if youwait until 2014, you’ll miss your chance to be a market leader.

Eric Johnson can be reached at 817-366-7536 or [email protected].