As successful benefits brokers and benefits managers understand, businesses need solutions to problems, not products to buy. And the problem most are trying to solve today is containing costs while helping their employees gain access to affordable benefits that meet an increasingly diverse work force's unique needs. That challenge is taking on ever-greater urgency as small and mid-sized employers confront the following circumstances:

• The cost of basic health coverage continues to rise at a pace usually much greater than the company's gross revenue or bottom line;
• In many parts of the country, labor markets are relatively tight, so employee benefits remain a critical tool used to recruit and retain good workers; and
• As employees continue to assume a growing share of the responsibility of paying for health coverage and other benefits, they have higher expectations in terms of the range of choices available to them, as well as the creativity and flexibility of the benefits design.

Creative solutions

Ancillary employee benefits — particularly dental and vision products — have become one source of creative product development. Today, given the consistent steep upward march of basic medical plan costs, ancillary plans can offer strong value for dollars spent.