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Milestones: Coordinated Financial Resources
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Business New Haven
11/24/2003
By: Melissa Nicefaro
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Coordinated Financial Resources
325 Boston Post Road, Suite 3-F
Orange, CT 06477
Phone: 1-800-953-4467 Fax: 203-799-6701
Web: www.cfr-cit.com
Ownership: Stephen and Sally Glick
Milestone: 20 years
Timeline: Coordinated Financial Resources was founded by Stephen and Sally Glick 20 years ago. The company was born into a world that bore little resemblance to the insurance industry of today.
Then, Coordinated Financial Resources sold insurance to small businesses. Today, it offers:
Managed health-care products, Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans, Indemnity ("fee-for-service") health plans, group dental insurance, long-term care insurance,group life insurance and disability plans
Soon after the birth of Coordinated Financial Resources, the company became a parent to the Chamber Insurance Trust (CIT).
"CIT provides a portfolio of benefits to Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce members," explains Sally Glick. "You must be a member of the chamber of commerce to participate."
Today a cornerstone of CFR's business portfolio, the CIT is a voluntary alliance of more than 70 participating chambers of commerce across Connecticut, exerting the combined strength of its members' purchasing power. Statewide, more than 6,000 companies buy health insurance through CIT. Designed with input from chamber executives and members, CIT health plans offer small businesses (those with one to 50 employees) a variety of flexible choices among insurance programs.
Achievements and Accomplishments:
Coordinated Financial Resources began with a team of two - Stephen and Sally Glick - and has modestly grown to a team of 13.
Sally Click credits the company's strength to its employees: "Each year we've been in business has been a year of growth. Our strength lies in our relationships with clients and with the insurance carriers. With good relationships, issues can be taken care of easily."
Average length of employment at CIT is seven years and the company has retired two workers.
"I think our focus keeps us strong," says Sally Glick. Our focus has expanded, but hasn't changed. In our industry, the strength is in the education and in tax reforms that are coming through that effect benefits themselves. There are cost-saving designs that can be used in the proper way and it's knowing and being an expert in that particular area. We haven't changed our expertise, but we are constantly educating ourselves and the people we deal with. We feel that it's very important in this economic time to be a savvy consumer in the purchase of benefits."
Looking Back on a Changing Industry:
CIT has grown with the industry over the past 20 years, but the company's main focus of providing benefits solutions to small businesses remains unchanged.
Age banding of rates - by which health insurance premiums rise with each five-year increase in age - has been a significant change over CIT's tenure.
"The older you are, the more you will pay for your benefits, when in theory, that's when you need them the most," Glick explains. "That's been a problem and as I've always said, it can cause discriminatory hiring. When two candidates are up for the same position and one is 50 and the other is 29 and the employer knows they have to provide full benefits, who are they going to chose for the job? The younger worker, of course."
CIT has worked very closely with chamber executives and the Glicks have met with the state's Department of Insurance to better understand and educate clients on such legislation as age banding.
"We've seem some very high-deductible hospital plans and we are trying to change the structure and formulize plans that could lower rates," says Glick.
The key to success is in education, Glick believes.
"We're in the business of educating the consumer. That's really our focus this year. We have an 'integrated benefits solutions' program, which we rolled out to businesses, and chambers of commerce have run seminars about what can businesses can take advantage of with tax benefits and what they can do to lower insurance costs."
The insurance industry has changed dramatically within just the past seven or eight years.
"When we started with ConnectiCare in 1994, there were three rates," Glick recalls. "You paid one rate for singles, one rate for a couple and one rate for a family. Other states have maintained that rating methodology, but Connecticut has not."
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