Few employee benefit observers are better equipped to make sense of health care reform than Beverly Beattie, founder and CEO of Selden Beattie Benefit Advisers in South Miami, whose background is a near-perfect fit.

Her place in the consultative pantheon: Comfortably nestled among employers, providers and insurance carriers. Beattie, who will address attendees at next month's 23rd annual Benefits Forum & Expo produced by Employee Benefit News, believes the landmark legislation offers enterprising industry producers a golden opportunity to help navigate employers through rough waters.

In fact, she expects the new law will help grow her business 50% to 100% this year. Beattie recently spoke with EBN contributor Bruce Shutan about the impact of health care reform and cost-containment strategies.

EBN: How did your background and experience prepare you for the future of benefits, particularly in light of health care reform?

Beattie: I worked in the physician recruiting industry and health care system that blazed trails and created innovative approaches to help employers manage health care costs. We formulated a three-way winning partnership between providers, employers and insurance carriers to turn adversaries into team players.

Having had that experience to represent and appreciate all sides of the equation has given me a unique perspective and foundation from which to represent our employer clients' interests.

EBN: What should HR and benefit professionals expect from their broker or adviser partners as they deal with health care reform in a way that transcends their role as a point of access to product choices?

Beattie: HR professionals should absolutely expect much more from their brokers than mere access to products as part of a more consultative and problem-solving approach.

The job of a trusted adviser is to help translate an organization's challenges and opportunities, including the potential impacts of health care reform, into action plans and develop benefit options to help meet and exceed operational goals.

EBN: Would you say that health care reform presents a great opportunity for brokers and advisers to distinguish themselves in a competitive marketplace?

Beattie: Without a doubt. I think this is going to definitely be the time where the rubber meets the road and there will be a significant weeding out of brokers, who must undoubtedly shift to being advisers much like an organization has legal and financial advisers.

Organizations will have to work with a benefits adviser to help provide counsel and guidance on how to address health care reform, its impact on their benefits program and effort to contain costs.

EBN: What are some of the key issues resulting from this landmark health care reform legislation that will affect employers?

Beattie: There are certain provisions that could become effective as early as the date the legislation is enacted, so therefore employers should be considering how these issues will affect them. The new law will result in as many as 32 million U.S. residents gaining coverage. So for the first time employers will be potentially subjected to taxes if they don't offer coverage to employees.

In some cases within the next few months, employers are going to have to change the design of their plans to comply with the variety of new requirements, such as continuing coverage to an employee's adult children.

Many of these changes, including elimination of pre-existing condition clauses, lifetime dollar limits and waiting periods exceeding 90 days, will have a dramatic impact on health insurance premiums and claims. We've already begun to see here in our market insurers loading their rates in order to compensate for coming reforms.

But I think that having said all that, there's also a human-capital cost that needs to be addressed. Human resource departments will have to staff up.

They are going to have to be able to deal with the potential influx of additional employees that now would require coverage and there are also administrative burdens of new reporting requirements that are mandated through reform. The key issues in the reform movement are not only financial, but they are definitely operational as well.

EBN: How would you describe the strategic importance of budget forecasting?

Beattie: This is an area where HR/benefits and finance have often been at odds. By helping firm the plan strategically for their benefit selections and then forecast expenses, an adviser can help to get both disciplines on the same side of the table.

Organizations generally do budget forecasts for every other major expense line item. Benefit costs should be the same. When you incorporate contingency planning, you have now provided the employer with planning options that have been agreed to in advance.

And that helps to put HR/benefits in command of their own plans because they already have the executive team's approval for what is to happen with the benefits program.

A trusted adviser can be an invaluable part of that process because they can objectively facilitate the planning process and leverage their benefit expertise to provide creative solutions and those contingency plans.

EBN: What sort of tools and resources are there for predicting health benefit cost increases?

Beattie: There are quite a number that we use, and I think that with the ongoing national debate on the health care system and its focus on insurance coverage, it's imperative for employers to develop and implement plans to better manage their health benefit programs without further shifting costs to employees.

One of the tools we use to predict and manage costs is through data mining to where we analyze relevant plan-utilization data and identify trends.

Others include benchmark studies, predictive modeling, mandating case management participation for chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity.

We also believe strongly in rewards for good health and full coverage for preventative care, and online tools for health education and consumerism is an absolute must, as are high-deductible health plans and the use of technology to enhance consumerism.

EBN: How should employers prioritize a benefits contingency plan?

Beattie: It depends on strategic goals. Undoubtedly, cost will be a top priority. If the employer needs to stay within a target budget, then some hard decisions will need to be made. The options should be prioritized to minimize adverse consequences while still accomplishing as many of the strategic goals as possible.

EBN: How can employers take a more holistic approach to HR and benefits management, as well as employee education and communications, to better achieve their corporate objectives?

Beattie: More than ever, they need to incorporate a technology and communications system that not only effectively manages the people information, but also helps to increase reporting requirements that are coming down the pike.

So leveraging technology we believe enables the high-tech-high-touch approach to client interaction and also increases employer and employee satisfaction.

As pressure mounts to find optimum value and affordability in an organization's program, coupled with uncertain residual effects of reform, we believe a well thought out benefit strategic plan will include the intelligent integration of technology, education, communication, utilization management and promotion of health and wellness.

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