Key Takeaways
- The best supplemental health carriers build products a broker can explain in a sentence or two, so HR directors and employees can follow along on the first pass.
- Carrier partners should have videos and tutorials to help employers and members understand how the technology will work for them.
- Carriers that run an analysis on the employer’s own claims data give brokers something to put in front of CFOs and HR directors that isn’t a sales pitch.
- Carriers that supply enrollment materials and stay on the account after enrollment take the follow-up work off the broker.
Brokers recommending supplemental health often face a communication hurdle: HR directors, CFOs and employees who aren’t familiar with insurance terms or concepts. If the broker can’t make the coverage make sense, people won’t see the value and may never use the benefit.
That’s why carriers need to do more than just underwrite the benefit. Brokers need partners who help turn complex coverage into a story an employee can follow: what’s covered, how to use it, when it pays and where to get answers. The best carrier partnerships give brokers the tools, proof and ongoing support to explain supplemental health with confidence.
#1: A Product That Explains Itself
The toughest part of explaining supplemental health is often the product itself. Traditional supplemental coverage comes with complicated benefit schedules, long lists of exclusions and narrow triggers like a specific accident or illness. Walking someone through what qualifies and how payments are determined can take a lot of time and often leaves people more confused than when you started.
A diagnosis-based product removes most of that work. The idea fits in one sentence: if an employee receives a covered diagnosis, they can file a claim and, if benefits are approved, receive a direct benefit payment.
RenSecureHealth, Renaissance’s supplemental health product, covers more than 13,000 conditions across three categories: moderate, severe and catastrophic. When HR asks, “What does this actually cover?” you can answer with what’s included instead of rattling off exceptions.
For brokers who want language they can use in a meeting or email: “Supplemental health is diagnosis-based coverage that pays a direct cash benefit for covered conditions. It isn’t a full medical plan. It works alongside primary medical insurance and helps with costs the primary plan doesn’t fully cover.”
#2: A Claim Experience Employees Can See Before They Need It
The claim experience takes less explaining once employees have seen it. Look for a carrier that gives members a look at the process before they need to file, whether that’s through a member portal, short videos or step-by-step guides. When a covered diagnosis comes up, employees shouldn’t be learning the process from scratch.
RenSecureHealth is a good example. Members register for the RenSecureHealth portal on a computer and can then download the app, so they’ve already been inside before a claim ever comes up. To file, they answer a few guided questions, upload documentation in the app or the desktop portal and choose how they want to be paid. If benefits are approved, they are often paid within 72 hours via direct deposit, Venmo, PayPal or paper check. Nothing routes through HR, and there’s no reimbursement cycle.
#3: Proof That Employees Will Use It
HR directors and CFOs will eventually ask, “Will anyone actually use this?” Instinct and product descriptions aren’t enough to answer that question.
Carriers that give brokers the strongest footing provide employer-specific data. Renaissance’s Claims Incidence Analysis shows what RenSecureHealth would have paid on claims employees already experienced under their existing medical coverage, so brokers can demonstrate the plan’s value and help inform the employer’s decision.
The difference for a CFO is where the numbers come from. Industry averages describe other companies. This analysis is built on the group’s own claims, which turns “this could help your employees” into a figure they can check.
#4: Communication Materials Built for People Who Don’t Speak Insurance
Even with a simple product and strong data, someone still has to explain the benefit to employees. The question is whether the carrier helps with that communication or hands over a technical product sheet and leaves brokers and HR teams to do the rest.
Look for:
- Enrollment materials an employee can read without a glossary.
- Sample language for emails and meetings.
- FAQs that answer common filing and coverage questions.
Renaissance’s guide to explaining supplemental health to groups covers that list: a pre-enrollment email, a mid-year reminder, a 60-second meeting script and an FAQ block employers can drop into their own communications.
#5: Support That Doesn’t Disappear After Enrollment
Supplemental health isn’t something you explain once and expect everyone to remember. New employees join throughout the year, and questions come up the day someone needs to use the benefit. If the carrier’s support ends at enrollment, those questions go to HR, and HR calls the broker.
Carriers with ongoing support provide dedicated account teams who stick with the group rather than a rotating service line. They offer mid-year education for new hires who arrive outside enrollment. And they make sure members with claims questions can reach the carrier’s service team directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can brokers explain a supplemental health plan like RenSecureHealth to employees who have never heard of it?
Start with what it does, in one sentence: if an employee is diagnosed with a covered condition, the plan pays them a cash benefit on top of their medical coverage, and they can use it for anything from a deductible to time off work. Then give one scenario, such as an appendicitis diagnosis in February when the medical deductible is barely touched, so they can picture when the money would arrive. Finish by showing where they’d file the claim, in the app or the portal.
What should brokers look for in a supplemental health carrier’s claims process?
Look for a claims process you can describe in a sentence or two, and a carrier that lets members see how it works before they need it, whether through a portal, videos or guides. Ask how many conditions are covered and whether the list is spelled out in the plan documents. The fewer steps between diagnosis and payment, the less explaining the broker has to do.
When you recommend supplemental health, you can count on Renaissance to back you up. Our dedicated account team is with you from your first conversation with an employer, through enrollment and whenever you need support after that.
