Benefits for Success works with employers who want to attract and retain the best people, and with employees who want to protect and build their financial security. Based in Fargo, North Dakota, we have been in business for more than thirty-five years. In 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act sent a clear message that those who can pay for their own long term care will need to do so. This message caused us to decide that this was a great opportunity to diversify into the individual long term care insurance market, while continuing to work with employers and their benefit plans.

Benefits for Success helps employers with their entire benefits package. We specialize in both employer-provided and voluntary (employee paid) benefits. When requested, we work with our employer-partner to design a benefit package to meet their needs. As brokers, we work with many insurance companies. Our primary responsibility is to represent your interests and not those of an insurance company. A proposal is prepared and sent to a number of insurance companies for their bid. These bids are analyzed for product features and price to select the best match for our employer-partner's needs. We help you communicate and install the plan in your organization.

Our goal is to partner with the employer and become part of the employer's benefits department staff. It may seem trite to say that we take pride in our ongoing service, but we do. We encourage you to visit with any of our current clients to obtain their reaction to our service. We know you will like working with us.

* " Experience shows that one of the biggest problems centers on the "bid" process where several brokers go to the marketplace for the same benefits. Chaos results. Insurers receive data specifications that are different. Some insurers issue duplicate quotes, others do not. Commission requests vary by broker, resulting in different costs for the same product. Insurers often decline to quote, as they perceive that no one is in control. Insurers prefer to work on cases where they can develop specs and costs with one broker who controls the account.

The proper process focuses on having the employer understand the role of the broker/consultant and for the employer to select his/her adviser up front. The selected broker then acts on behalf of the employer as his/her advocate in the marketplace. If the relationship is right, the employer should look at his/her chosen adviser as an extension of the human resources department. This relationship benefits everyone. There is conformity of advice. There is loyalty. Insurers know where they stand. Business is not moved just because a lower rate comes along. There are always lower rates available, but costs are only one part of the selection process. "

* Quote from an article written by Roger S. Schultz and published in the Journal of the American Society of CLU and ChFC dated March of 1998.