Re-enrollment isn't discussed enough in the voluntary market. It seems only a fewbrokers have true re-enrollment strategies. Too often, a new caseis enrolled and then left untouched unless there's a rate change orother event that mandates a change. That's what we call “love 'emand leave 'em” marketing.

Do you think re-enrollment is primarily for new hires? Whatabout those who didn't buy the first time? Do you ever approachthem again? Employees who don't buy at the initial enrollment arenot making the decision to never buy—it just may not be the righttime. Remember that circumstances change. A 26-year old who choosesnot to purchase a product the first time may now have a mortgageand/or an infant child and better understand the need forcoverage.

It's important to continually re-market and allow employeesadditional opportunities to buy coverage. This is especiallyimportant in light of the lower participation rates seen in initialenrollments today. As the chart shows, the average participationrates of almost every product line have declined in recent years.If we look at participation by account size, we see a similardecline.