Navigating Challenges and Trends in Health Insurance Leadership

About Alan Derow 

Alan Derow has spent over 36 years in the Corporate HR environment and serves as Sr. Manager of Benefits for Irvine Company. He has worked for companies including Rockwell International and AECOM Technology. He has managed defined contribution and defined benefit plans, ESOPs, non-qualified plans, and many facets of Human Resources, including Benefits, Compensation, 401(k), Wellness Programs, Training and Development, and Workers' Compensation. Alan completed his Bachelor of Science in Management from San Diego State University. In addition to his work expertise, Alan participates in competitive softball and volunteers time back to his community.

1. As a leader in the Health Insurance industry, what challenges or pain points impact the space?

Numerous legislative shifts in employee benefits have prompted adjustments in how we manage and offer benefits to our corporate staff. While some changes posed challenges, we effectively incorporated each modification into our HRIS systems, encompassing payroll and external platforms. This ensured seamless internal operations and compliance with federal, IRS, and California state regulations, especially for our predominantly California-based workforce.

2. What are some major trends impacting and gaining importance in the marketplace today? 

A significant aspect is corporate wellness, which involves how a company shapes its wellness culture and utilizes top-notch services and platform solutions to cater to its employee community.

Another vital concern within the benefit industry pertains to disability support. Addressing situations when an employee takes a leave of absence presents challenges. Alongside the company's responsibilities, the state of California plays a significant role in providing income replacement for associates during such leaves. Notably, recent changes in California involve increased disability taxes withheld from paychecks, eliminating the earnings cap. This means higher-earning individuals will contribute more to the CA SDI tax than in the past.

3. What leadership strategies do you leverage to guide your team and lead any project to successful execution? 

Over the past five years, we partnered with a wellness provider that wasn't as valuable to some employees. Collaborating with consultants, we initiated a Request for Proposal (RFP) process for three alternative vendors, including our current one. We organized demos to evaluate platforms, including an upgraded version from our existing vendor. The process involved reviewing RFPs, assessing benefits and costs, and posing strategic questions to align the best vendor and platform with our employee needs.

Building and embracing a more strategic mindset is crucial to growing and evolving your career.

This comprehensive evaluation spanned about two months, entailing RFP issuance, data collection, virtual vendor demos, and thorough Q&A sessions. After receiving final offers and conducting post-demo discussions, we considered our genuine needs and each platform's solutions. Factors such as successful implementation, effective utilization, and alignment with our strategic goals played crucial roles in the final choice.

While we've moderately engaged with wellness in the past, we aim to elevate our efforts and enhance associate participation. We seek to provide the right service or platform to foster genuine wellness, enabling our employees to be highly productive and capable. This strategic selection ensures strong engagement and impactful business outcomes moving forward.

4. Would you like to share a piece of advice with aspiring professionals so they can improve in this field? 

Building and embracing a more strategic mindset is crucial to growing and evolving your career. While it's natural to concentrate on administrative tasks and achieving operational success, evolving to a strategic perspective requires a shift in thinking and considering various factors. Seek opportunities to cultivate a strategic mindset, seek guidance and coaching from experienced professionals who have mastered strategic thinking, and aim to transcend the trivialities. While being detail-oriented is valuable, career growth involves rising above day-to-day tasks and gaining a higher-level perspective to understand the bigger picture.