Independent agents worried about being relegated to a diminishedrole under the health-care reform law aren't about to throw in thetowel over their employee-benefits business just yet.

"I don't think the mood is overwhelmingly negative, but theconcern is the viability of selling the policies," says Campbell H.Wallace, government-affairs counsel for the Professional InsuranceAgents associations of the states of NY, NJ, CT and NH. "Producershave questions, but they don't fear the future."

Some experts believe that one viable way for agents to adapt andsurvive the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable CareAct (PPACA) is by increasing the services they offer clients.

Some are doing just that: Ramping up their operations asadvisors; charging fees for their expert insight; and expandingtheir benefits operations to include long-term care, lifeinsurance, dental and other employee-benefit programs.

And while some predicted a spike in agencies withemployee-benefit revenue selling off that business as a result ofPPACA, that is not happening yet.

"There appears to be no huge increase in [mergers andacquisitions] activity in the past two or three years," says BrianDeitz, senior vice president for Reagan Consulting.

Instead of selling off the business, Deitz says, agents areadding services where it increases the value of the agency.

FRONT-LINE AGENTS: SOME ANGST OVER MANAGEMENTINACTION

Some employee-benefit agents are complaining that they are notseeing "enough thoughtful and positive energy" spent planning forthe eventual new reality health-care reform will bring, says ArvidR. "Dick" Tillmar, an agency consultant for Tillmar Connect inMilwaukee, Wis.

Tillmar says that there are two things an agency should be doingtoday to deal with changes in health-care insurance. One is to forman employee-benefits committee to more actively and thoroughlydiscuss the agency's future plans.

Second, "if you are not into voluntary benefits, you'd betterbe," says Tillmar. It is important for agents to increase theirvalue to their clients and find additional avenues of revenue,whether that comes in the form of contingent fees or someretainer.

BURDEN—OR OPPORTUNITY?

Lydia Jilek, head of voluntary products for financial-servicescompany ING in Windsor, Conn., explains that in selling thesevoluntary-benefits programs, producers should view health-carereform as an opportunity and not a burden.

She notes the price of health insurance continues to rise—and inan effort to control costs, employers are increasingdeductibles.

Voluntary programs, Jilek says, can help consumers. She cited anING critical-illness plan in which an individual can receive$15,000 worth of coverage in addition to their medical coverage inthe event of a heart attack, sudden blindness, stroke or othermalady.

She stressed that these voluntary programs, which can includeaccident insurance and disability, act to fill in the gaps andcover employees' out-of-pocket expenses.

To prosper under PPACA, she observes, agents and brokers need to"take on more responsibility and increase their value proposition."