This isn’t just going to go away: A Q&A with Kai Williams

Kai Williams serves as an employee benefits advisor with PSA Financial and Insurance Services, where he works to implement strategic marketing plans, evidence-based wellness initiatives, education-driven enrollments and design effective cost-containment strategies.

Paul Wilson: How did you get your start in the benefits industry?

I was fortunate enough to have a mentor when I came out of college, and we had a very candid conversation. We decided my best options were to get an advanced degree, go to law school or go into sales. I chose sales and was fortunate enough to go to a job fair not long after that. I left with four job offers and decided to go with UnitedHealth. That was my introduction into insurance.

I spent about three years in their small-business unit and learned a lot. A brokerage reached out to me about an account manager position, which introduced me to the brokerage community and how it differs from the carrier side. I spent two years in that role, just soaking up as much information as I could. During my third year, I transitioned into a sales and consulting role and I’ve been in that role ever since.

PW: How has this background so far shaped your mindset and the way you do your job?

At United, I was fortunate to see how a number of different brokerages operated in the Mid-Atlantic. That was my introduction to seeing the capabilities and services that brokerages offer and what differentiated the top-tier brokers from the rest.

The simplest thing is what always sticks out to me: It’s no secret that the majority of brokers out there are getting to a place where they’re sitting on a block of business and aren’t as active as they once were. I saw it play out in front of me. I saw how they treated their clients and their varying levels of responsiveness. So when I became a broker, I knew I never wanted to be complacent or dismissive. I always wanted to be attentive and to try to bring new things to the table.

If you always do right by the client, you’ll do just fine in this industry. Bring innovative solutions, always be there and don’t rest on your heels.

PW: Are you starting to see more employers that are open to innovative ideas and strategies?

Yes, because they have to be. What I’ve found with many clients is the importance of health risk management. I think that’s the next step in terms of managing cost and providing a service that’s going to make an impactful change, along with things like reference-based pricing, transparency and pharmacy carve-outs. It’s going to come down to data analytics, which will then allow us to be predictive and manage high-cost claimants. That’s where I think the next step of innovation will come from as we begin to get more proficient and start to see our industry embrace AI and some of these tools.

That’s where we really see the benefit of some of the things we’re able to do at our firm when it comes to data analytics, getting information from carriers and working hand in hand with them to provide solutions where we can proactively reach out to clients via in-house nurses to keep engagement going so we can help mitigate and catch some of these high-cost claimants before they even get to that point. That’s the next step that will really start to move the needle, when we start to perfect data analytics in conjunction with health risk management.

PW: Speaking of data and transparency, do you see progress? Is it getting easier for brokers and their clients to get the data?

You’re absolutely going to get the bulk of the information through a self-funded platform. That’s where you have a number of access points to the data and tools that help manage the data analytics. It really opens up the amount of information we can access.

We are starting to work with some carriers that will give us information on the fully insured side, but there are certain requirements that have to be met, and the data is nowhere near what we get on the self-insured side. Carriers often don’t want to give us that information, so they’re only giving bits and pieces. But we’re one of the largest brokers in the area and have a big block of business with them, so it’s a push and pull.

What it comes down to is having a discussion with a fully insured group to see if it makes sense to move into a self-insured plan, based on a number of factors. If it’s not the right fit, what can we implement in terms of health risk management or things like wellness packages so that we can create a solid all-around benefit package that accomplishes the things we need? That’s the balance.

PW: How do you work with clients who are interested in change, but still trying to figure it all out?

The first step is establishing credibility. It requires bonding, building trust and rapport. You can then start the education process and start to open them up to those hard conversations where they begin to trust you to manage things that will pull them away from what they’ve been comfortable with.

You have to establish a partnership. It helps if you have some skin in the game, too. You can put things in place where your fees are tied into how well the plan works out. That gives the client more comfort to move in new directions, because they know it’s not just all on them.

PW: How are you adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic? How has it affected you and your life?

It’s definitely been an interesting year; everyone’s dealing with it. Our firm has pivoted really well. We don’t have a lot of red tape to fight through. We’re able to quickly put out information and resources, whether an update on our web page about COVID, or doing a bi-weekly webinar on return to work policies.

Being able to be ahead of the curve has really been a differentiator for us. It’s been our focus to try to provide accurate content and information first. That starts to establish credibility to then have the next conversations about helping them navigate through COVID and its implications.

We just did a webinar about return to work policies that was our most-watched resource yet. A lot of companies reached out to get that content and ask questions, which opened up conversations. That’s the trick right now: How do you help clients sift through all the information out there? You have to stay ahead of the curve.

PW: How do you see the pandemic changing health care/benefits? Will it change how you plan and work with clients?

How we communicate and conduct open enrollment will definitely look different moving forward. Especially this year, there won’t be any in-person enrollment meetings. And some firms aren’t equipped to facilitate these changes successfully. When no one’s in the office and employees are working from home and popping up in other states, how does that impact you?

Then you look at plan management. We’re going to see more in terms of telehealth, so everyone will start to get more proficient in that. And I really believe data analytics will be a key driver of innovation moving forward. I’m interested to see how this will play out. How will data analytics be incorporated into telehealth and managing people in a virtual setting?

That’s where I really see the difference coming into play: moving into a virtual setting with physician visits, chronic conditions and how we’re going to better manage that and streamline it to make it even easier. It’s the Amazon effect, right? It needs to be as easy and simple as possible. That concept is going to continue to make its way into our field in terms of visits, prescriptions and things like that. How can it become one integrated process?

PW: Do you think this will impact the benefits and products people prioritize? Will people reevaluate what’s important to them?

I’m anticipating what you’d expect with any recession; at the end of the day, that’s what we’re talking about from an economic standpoint. People are going to start watching their spending. What they deem as discretionary income is going to drop and they’re going to focus on protecting what they have. They’re going to look at what they deem non-essential deductions from their paychecks. I think there will be some disruption when it comes to new enrollment. I don’t necessarily think it’s going to affect the current allocations. Most people typically set it and forget it, so with worksite products, many might not even remember what they’ve signed up for.

I think you’ll see more people enroll in high-deductible health plans, especially if they’re fairly young and healthy. I think it’ll even out once the economy starts to recover, but we’re going to go through a rough time where people are going to hunker down. Just as businesses are looking at their bottom lines, families are doing the same thing.

PW: What are the hardest/most rewarding parts of being an innovator?

The struggle with any type of innovation is how you roll it out and which clients are willing to be the first on that platform. That’s a tough conversation and it goes back to establishing credibility and creating trust and a partnership. Then, the client has the confidence that “Hey, they’re rolling this out and thinking of me in this context.” It becomes a privilege rather than an obligation or risk.

The benefit of being an innovator is being ahead of the curve. You’ll be looked at as a thought leader, as an expert within the field, and you’ll be leading the way. And at the end of the day, clients respect that. That’s part of why they partnered with you in the first place.

PW: Our health care system is in bad shape. How do you stay motivated to fix things? Are you confident it can be fixed?

For me, the motivation comes from being part of the solution. As younger consultants, we’re the next generation of benefits advisors and leaders. So it’s “How can I put my footprint on the next 10 to 20 years?” That’s exciting. It’s what wakes me up every morning.

The hardest part of what we do is dealing with the red tape. But it has to get done; we’re at a tipping point. This is unsustainable. We’ve seen a big push for universal health care, and if there’s no change, then it might eventually become a reality.

There are a lot of smart individuals within our industry; we may have dodged a bullet recently, but this isn’t just going to go away. We need to have long and serious conversations to figure out viable, sustainable next steps or the system might eventually implode or collapse. We’re going to have to have some hard conversations that might affect companies’ bottom lines, but it’ll help this industry thrive for decades to come, rather than just the next few election cycles.

PW: How can the industry do a better job of bringing in younger and more diverse candidates?

When I grew up, options we considered to someday have a comfortable lifestyle were to become a lawyer, get an advanced degree and work to become a CFO or CEO someday, or become a professional athlete. One of the things that motivates me is being an example for my community to show that there are other ways to be successful. You can go into insurance and make a great living if you’re willing to work hard. People need to know these career options are out there.

Growing up, the only thing I knew about insurance was the stereotype of the sleazy salesman depicted in movies. If you’d told me I was going to be in insurance, I never would have believed it. But now, when I go and talk to kids in the community or if I’m at church and people ask me what I do, I’m always eager to tell them.

PW: What about the role of mentorship, especially when it comes to helping the industry become more diverse?

I’m fortunate to have a tremendous mentor where I work. He has actively invested in me and goes to bat for me. It’s helped me become as successful as I have so far. I’m easily five to 10 years ahead of where I would be otherwise.

As far as creating momentum for diversity, you need those individuals to develop so they can create actual impactful change. That only comes with having enough diversity so that some will move into positions of impact. If it doesn’t start now, we’ll be having the same conversation in 15 or 20 years.

We need mentors and programs to help create change. And that’s true for any of the younger people coming into the industry who are going to move up and have a long career.

PW: Finish this sentence: The key to success in this industry going forward is…

Mentorship. I can’t speak enough about how much it has impacted my career. If you’re in a position to work with a mentor, do it. It will provide a huge boost to anyone’s success.

Read more from our Face of Change series: 

• If I don’t do this now, it’s never going to happen: A Q&A with Kimberly Soares
• Embrace skinned knees: A Q&A with Drew Leatherberry
• Leave a legacy: A Q&A with Chelsea Whalley