Broker renewal strategies matter more than acquisition this Open Enrollment

New business gets a lot of attention heading into Open Enrollment. But for an established ACA broker, some of the most important conversations on the calendar are with people you already know.

And remember: Returning clients aren't simply enrollments to process again. Their situation may have changed, and the plan that worked this year may not be the best fit next year.

After a year of actually using their coverage, clients tend to have a much better idea of what they liked and didn’t like about it. That's why a good ACA broker renewal strategy starts well before the rush of Open Enrollment.

Start ACA renewal conversations before Open Enrollment

Start earlier. Look across your book for clients whose circumstances have changed, who had questions during the year, or whose current coverage deserves another look. Some renewals will be straightforward and some will not. The goal is to know which ones aren't going to be simple before your calendar fills up.

Orchard Health Marketplace, a CMS-approved EDE platform for brokers, can help do some of that prep work earlier. With Orchard’s soon-to-be-released client intake form, brokers will be able to ask clients to review and update their information before an appointment, giving the broker time to prepare for that renewal conversation.

Brokers can also send clients an account creation request to complete identity proofing ahead of OE. Clients verify themselves using dynamic information such as ZIP code, IP address and personal history. Once they complete identity proofing on Orchard, they remain verified on Orchard for future Open Enrollment periods so it doesn't become another annual renewal task. The more you can sort out before OE gets busy, the more time you have for the renewal conversations that require your expertise.

Click below to watch a demo of ID proofing and broker verification within Orchard:

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Don't assume last year's coverage still fits

A year of actually using coverage can tell a client a lot more than the original plan comparison did.

Maybe they learned that:

• Their preferred doctors aren't in-network.
• A prescription costs more than expected or isn't covered.
• The deductible was harder to manage than they anticipated.
• Specialist visits or other frequent care came with higher out-of-pocket costs than expected.
• Dental or vision expenses exposed gaps they hadn't thought about.
• An unexpected health event changed how comfortable they are with the costs associated with their medical plan.

Those experiences give you somewhere useful to start at renewal. Get an understanding of how well their coverage worked for them. The answer may point to a different ACA plan. It may also open a conversation about dental, vision or supplemental coverage that could address a gap the client actually experienced.

Orchard makes it easier to review those options together. Brokers can shop ACA medical, and select dental, vision and supplemental coverage in the same marketplace, so a renewal conversation can look at the client's broader coverage without sending you into a separate shopping experience.

Click below to watch a demo of quoting via Orchard:

Make the easy renewals actually easy

Not every returning client should have to start from the beginning. That's where the technology brokers use during Open Enrollment can make a meaningful difference. The Orchard EDE platform can handle some of that repeat enrollment work. Orchard's Rapid Renewal feature streamlines the repeat-enrollment workflow for eligible renewals and can save brokers 6–8 minutes per renewal, based on Orchard’s internal testing.*

Six minutes doesn't sound transformative when you're thinking about one client. Across 50 renewals, that's five hours of time. The added benefit: Information such as provider and prescription data can be saved in Orchard for future renewals, giving brokers a better starting point when it's time to review coverage again.

Retention is a growth strategy

A good renewal experience reminds clients that you're not just there to process an enrollment, you know their history, understand what changed and can help them make a better decision for the year ahead.

Orchard helps take some of the work out of renewals, giving brokers more time for the conversations that keep clients coming back.

\* Results may vary based on renewal complexity. Orchard internal testing demonstrated time savings of 6–8 minutes per renewal.

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