We’re getting more and more questions from agents asking what they can sell right now. We know that the fourth quarter is the busy time of the year, but the other nine months can leave brokers twiddling their thumbs.

Salespeople who want to edge out their competition need some sort of hook, something they do differently than everyone else. In health insurance, that can be difficult to do since agents neither design nor price the products that they sell; the plans are the plans and the rates are the rates.

In our last couple posts, we explained that CMS has extended the transitional relief for small employers until the end of 2019, giving healthier small group clients an opportunity to save on premiums for another year and avoid some of the rules applicable to ACA metallic plans. We also explained that taking advantage of this option may require these small groups to continue renewing their same plan year after year without the option of tweaking their benefits at renewal/re-issue time. For employers looking for greater flexibility in plan design, self-funding provides a great alternative; small-business employers with self-funded plans often save money by avoiding the modified adjusted community rating rules, and they have multiple plan options to choose from.