Image: European Union
For reasons of confidentiality, I can’t provide too detailed of an answer, of course. But I can share that my title is Product Associate and that I’m assigned to a group within my employer that exists in the intersection between Marketing, Sales, and Operations. The position has also been characterized as “one foot in benefits and the other in technology,” although this refers to being a power end user, not a developer.
I’m currently assigned multiple carriers, and it’s my job to learn those carriers’ products inside and out. This means understanding everything from their value proposition and positioning, to knowing their unique underwriting requirements, to understanding their products themselves. My employer currently operates in a double handful of states, with at least two or three more coming in the near future. I’m responsible for understanding the product nuances between states as well as within states.
But knowing this information isn’t enough; I’m also responsible for getting it out to various stakeholders. In practical application, my job duties can range from research, to online article curation and posting, to assisting in the development of various internal sales tools and checklists, to ensuring that everything in our rather extensive carrier libraries is kept up-to-date.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
To be sure, it’s not rocket science, but it does require an eye for detail and a process orientation.
In any given day, I might post an article on my company’s web site (or Intranet) while also researching a question about how a carrier handles a particular sticky compliance issue, and then pivot to sorting and posting information at various places online. I might also be in the process of coordinating an external webinar for our brokers, or managing the follow-up commitments from a previous webinar. I frequently talk to internal and external sales people, marketing and communications specialists, carrier representatives, operations specialists, and customer service associates. It’s not unheard-of for me to talk to other stakeholders from time to time as well.
My past work experience has taught me how to stay organized while in the middle of multiple projects and tasks, and I have access to a project/task management tool that I refer to as my “second brain.” This has replaced the running handwritten checklists I used for a couple of decades, which was a method that had limitations. It’s much easier to stay on task and schedule my work out using the digital application.
In addition, I use a content management system (and will be learning a new one in the near future; neither of these are the content management system I use on this web site), various Microsoft Office applications including some advanced-level techniques in Outlook, Word, and Excel, and all sorts of online applications offered by my carriers. Being able to use them isn’t enough, though; I also have to know what I’m looking for. That’s where my benefits knowledge comes in.
As an example of the benefits knowledge, I can clearly explain the differences between the PPACA-mandated Summary of Benefits & Coverage (SBC) and the carrier-generated benefit summaries. (Not everything can be found on an SBC.) I also know the difference between those items and the health insurance certificate of coverage itself.
In addition, I’m responsible for learning and sharing which product categories are the most popular in the various markets where I work; some states have a mature level funded market in the small group space, while others still have a competitive fully insured market in that same space. I also have been learning more about large group products and even a little about individual products; and I’ve been keeping abreast of developments related to ICHRAs and QSEHRAs.
Part of my job is also to advocate for my carriers in front of internal stakeholders. By this, I don’t mean anything adversarial; rather, I am expected to make sure that our sales folks, in particular, remember my carriers’ unique strengths and weaknesses. During the slower season, I coordinate webinars and training. During the high season around Q4, I track seminars about the next year’s plan offerings, and make sure that I address anything that seems to be falling through the cracks.
My job will be heavily impacted by the health care policy and procedure decisions that incoming President Trump and his Cabinet will make. Right now, all I have is a series of educated guesses; the only thing I know for certain is that my industry is facing big changes. It will be my job to get out in front of them and make sure I can answer questions as soon as answers become available.
It’s interesting work, for the most part. I won’t pretend it’s a perfect job as such things don’t exist, and there are times it gets downright repetitive. Reading product grids and regulatory documents can get very tedious very quickly, and it’s easy to miss tiny but significant details. I also routinely have to do what I call, “beating computer applications into submission,” so that they perform in the manner I need them to. My HTML knowledge comes in handy here, as I sometimes need to directly edit markup.
When my last manager before this one saw the vacancy announcement for this job, he started chuckling: “that’s you right down the line, Catherine. Nobody knows the Atlanta small group market and carrier products better than you do*, and you do things with technology that I didn’t even know could be done. You’re also honest with yourself about not being the best at sales.” He was right.
I’ve only been in this position for twenty-three months, so I’m still on a bit of a learning curve. I have the basic duties down now, but am still working on some of the more advanced areas. So there’s plenty of room for me to grow yet, without requiring that I go into either sales or service. (I’m ill-suited for the former and burned out on the latter.) I probably won’t want to stay on my job forever, but at the moment, it’s a great place to be.
* In an interesting twist, the wider scope of my current position and the fact that I’m no longer out on the front lines, have combined to mean I don’t know the local market as well as I used to. That said, I now know a lot more about health insurance and employee benefits in general. Or, in other words, I’m evolving into a true subject matter expert.