Searching for useful and affordable healthcare and insurance can be a frustrating and daunting task. Fortunately for those who live on Atlanta’s south side, there is a dynamic duo with a combined half-century of experience navigating the insurance industry available to help.
Two years ago, after the passing of their beloved and respected mentor, Scott Burrell of BeneTrend Advisors, Workman and Baker took a leap of faith by purchasing the business. Each one saw the other as an ideal partner. “We worked together before and knew each other — we understand the strengths and talents that we bring to the table,” said Baker. “We both have always had that mentality to work hard and get things done.”
After many years of gaining expertise in health insurance for individuals, families, and businesses, BeneTrend possesses deep knowledge about insurance options, diligently scouring the marketplace to find the best options to suit each client’s needs. Small business owners appreciate this because in providing key benefits for their employees they need to keep the business budget in mind. Moreover, they need someone who will make sure all of the details are covered, correct the mistakes an insurance carrier might make, and go to bat for the client whenever necessary.
One client recently recovered a significant amount of money owed to him thanks to BeneTrend Partners. He is an employee under a group plan whose wife passed away from cancer. He did not realize he continued to pay the same premium after her death, but BeneTrend stepped in and made corrections so that he received the money he should have gotten while she was alive and being treated. It’s a difference of thousands of dollars and made a huge difference in his life.
On the company side, BeneTrend Partners recently helped a business owner save $75,000 on the renewal of a plan already in force, just by reviewing the plan and thinking outside the box. The kind of knowledge that makes this possible comes from always keeping a close eye on the industry. “An insurance agency has to know what each insurance company like United Healthcare, Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, or Cigna is doing,” said Workman. “So the knowledge that we've collected over the past 50 years has really put us in a spot where we could do what we do today.”
Workman and Baker are members of the National Association of Business Insurance Professionals (Workman is president of the South Atlanta chapter). Through their participation in this organization, they stay on top of the latest trends in healthcare, including what is happening in Congress and state legislatures that might affect consumers. They take the time to travel to Washington, DC every year to meet with other agents as well as members of Congress and their staff, lobbying on behalf of their clients. This year, both signed the NABIP Consumer Bill of Rights, a framework to ensure health care remains privately accessible and affordable for all Americans.
NABIP affiliation also allows them to network with their peers from across the country. When a problem arises that they have never encountered, they can be certain that another agent somewhere has experienced this and can give some advice. “We have thousands of agents as part of our tools in our shed to stay on top of this very crazy, chaotic healthcare system,” said Workman. “We want to disrupt it by providing quality and affordability.” This kind of attitude is a breath of fresh air for businesses who seek help with their insurance but have no idea where to start. “Nobody likes insurance. It's an industry that is not working,” said Workman. “It's an industry that is very ugly from every angle, from the individual to the small group to the large group. There's no shade of lipstick or fingernail polish to make any of this pretty. But we do have passion and we are out-of-the-box thinkers, and we want people to feel secure with their decision.”
Making a difference locally is a priority for BeneTrend Partners, who are active in multiple civic organizations and have planted deep roots in their community. Workman is a 40-year resident of Peachtree City while Baker moved to Senoia 31 years ago. Both are single mothers who reared their children in the same place where they now help other parents protect their own families. They are proof to women everywhere that if they can do it, so can you.
“When we acquired this business, we shocked a lot of people. No one thought that we could continue the legacy started by Scott and BeneTrend, but we have,” said Workman. “We want to have a local footprint in this community. We want to give back to our community. We want people to tell their friends, ‘You need to call Kathy and Cindy.’ That's us.”
For more information about BeneTrend Partners go to BeneTrendPartners.com or call 770-719-1717.
Crafting an Insurance BeneFit Sandwich
Financial products and services have many layers in all sorts of healthcare categories. How do small businesses and individual contractors decide what is best?
To put it another way: What goes on your BeneFit sandwich?
“Insurance is like a sandwich. You can build it however you want,” said Cindy Baker. “The sandwich allows us to have some fun with our not-fun industry.”
Ingredients such as life insurance and disability coverage should be on everyone’s BeneFit sandwich so that a family’s income is protected in case of an unforeseen or even tragic situation. Other components, such as health insurance, are necessary overall but the details vary depending on each person’s situation. Workman has been able to save her own family over $40,000 on healthcare through the years by picking the right BeneFit sandwich options.
“We are here to educate about insurance,” said Workman. “We are here to talk about what solutions are out there, especially the affordable solutions. The BeneFit Sandwich works for individuals, small and large groups.”
“We are here to educate about insurance. We are here to talk about what solutions are out there, especially the affordable solutions.”