The election of Scott Brown to the U.S. Senate drove the last nail in the coffin of the late, great health care reform debate, and the nation is better off as a result.

This partisan fly-by-night charade that we've seen over the past several months has produced an un-American, unworkable, budget-busting, taxaholic megamonster that polls say most Americans don't want and don't need.

The rhetoric we heard from President Barack Obama in his State of Union address was just political posturing to appease the left wing of his party. Reform is a dead duck, so start selling with renewed vigor. Now begins the ascent of the independent group insurance broker/consultant.

First, change public opinion by educating your clients. Here's a simple yet profound approach to health care reform that you can share with your customers to help gain their support: It is time to really unleash competitive forces in the health insurance industry by opening state borders to insurance carriers and letting them duke it out for the benefit of consumers. A few modifications to ERISA's preemption provisions should take care of that.

Let's also demand tort reform, which is responsible for upwards of $300 billion in medical malpractice costs annually. Those two actions alone will moderate costs and, with a little urging from Congress, solve the problem of the uninsured. Health care reform is needed, but let's do it with free market forces that our country is built upon.

Pundits have hailed the end of group health insurance sales, but the fact is, the group health insurance broker is needed now more than ever. Your future is secure for the foreseeable future. Let's face it: Insurance carriers have never been good sellers.

That's why the market needs an independent group health sales and consultant force to sell and explain the complex products and services that the insurance industry creates. Group health insurance brokers and consultants are the glue that holds the industry together and the grease that makes it work.

Now what?

It's sales hardball time. The marketplace is as competitive as ever. Life may not return to normal for employee benefits selling, but it won't be that different from the pre-health care reform days of a year ago. Buyers will quickly become acclimated to the fact that things have not changed and that the wait for health care reform may be a long one, so it's back to selling as usual.

Get out on the streets and sell. You have a particular opportunity to sell to groups of less than 100 employees since these groups will experience the greatest organic growth in headcount as the economy picks up steam in 2010 and hiring resumes.

Recently, I had the opportunity to poll a group of corporate recruiters in my graduate benefits class at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. I asked them if they are seeing an uptick in orders for new hires. Across varied industries and without exception, each recruiter said they are busy and that hiring has started again.

It's still in its early stages, so don't look for the evening news to herald the great hiring boom of 2010 just yet. As headcount slowly grows, you will see your commissions rise in tandem. The 2010 selling season is going to be a great period for you professionally.

The downfall of big-grab health care reform presents opportunity for you to insulate your book of business and add new customers right now. Here are your best opportunities.

Opportunity No. 1

The choke-hold of federal health care reform debate has been lifted. Provided it does not rear its ugly head anytime soon, your buyer's mindset will change from health care limbo to "let's move on." That's where you come in.

Recognize that this psychology will take place and start offering solutions to employers' problems.

Opportunity No. 2

The health insurance industry just took a body slam - a threat to its very existence. After the demise of HillaryCare in 1992, the health insurance industry took stock and moderated cost increases for a time. To the extent that trend can be moderated, the health insurance industry will once again moderate renewals to keep the reform police at bay, at least for a while. Look for slowing costs this year and next.

Opportunity No. 3

The recession is over. I've said this in past columns and it's true. Economic activity is increasing and will continue to increase, barring some national catastrophe.

Increased economic activity is the proverbial rising tide that lifts all boats. Buyers will be more motivated to buy from you as their bottom line shores up. This should spell frenzy for voluntary benefit sellers, who do not add cost to employers' bottom line.

Opportunity No. 4

Marketers of 401(k) plans and other CODAs should also benefit as plan participants gradually wade back into investing and building their retirement nest eggs. Equity and bond markets had a rocky January, but market fundamentals are improving and volatility should diminish somewhat in the months ahead. Dust off those asset allocation tables and modern portfolio theory books and get out and sell.

Opportunity No. 5

Group life insurance rates are the lowest they've been in years - and we've been saying that for years. Call on a prospect and ask if you can look at their group life. It's a sure winner if the client has a broker who has not kept on top of this phenomenal opportunity. Make sure to market the group life of your current clients too, or someone else reading this column will.

Opportunity No. 6

Finally, seize this time as a new time to show your customers alternative ways of administering their employee benefits. Look at outsourcing those administrative items that are no fun, like COBRA. We've negotiated outsourced full-bore COBRA services for our customers at $0.52 PEPM, regardless of the size of the group. A one-time set up fee of $125 and you're all set. You can negotiate these kinds of rates too, so why not do so?

Reason for hope

Health care reform will likely return to the front page of the congressional agenda at some point, but probably in a significantly scaled back form.

If you followed the congressional debate prior to the game-changing election of Scott Brown, you may have discerned a shift toward demonizing the insurance industry. Just like HIPAA, Section 89 (remember that delightful piece of congressional work, which was repealed because no one could understand it?), MHPA and other laws, Congress always defaults to imposing more regulations on the selling and administration of group health insurance plans. This time will be no different.

When the health care reform debate heats up again, and it may be a long while, the insurance industry will be the target. That spells opportunity for group insurance sellers because the rules will change and group insurance buyers will need you to explain the nuances of the changes. That gives you a reason to get in front of buyers.

But don't wait until reform comes around again - we may all be retired by the time that dog begins to hunt. Start educating clients now about what the market needs. Do a bit of lobbying with your groups and condition them for what's needed.

You are the holistic adviser, or at least you should be. Build an experience for your customers. Consumers like to belong to something that's going somewhere. That's you. You have time now. Don't waste the opportunity.

And lastly...

Health care trend is what it is. It is a function of technology, an aging population, a burgeoning health care industry and increased severity of illness that occurs with age. The tough nut to crack is finding ways to reduce your clients' costs in the face of these powerful forces.

I'm encouraged by the creative plan designs many brokers and consultants are using with HSAs and HRAs, in which employers self-fund part of the deductible and offer a drug card and office visits to boot.

Studies support that CDHPs hold a lot of promise for reducing group health plan costs and reducing the sense of entitlement that many plan participants have from the legacy plans from the 1980s and 1990s. Talk up CDHPs. Get creative with suggesting plan designs that take away the turn-off factor of huge deductibles and no benefits below that level.

Most of all, shake off the psychological paralysis that the health care reform debate may have created. You need to hit the streets with clarity, purpose and a fresh outlook to solving employers' problems. Your customer may still be languishing in the negativity and malaise of health care reform. Help shed that mindset or you won't sell anything. Move on!

Next month: Aircraft carriers and speedboats - you need to change. EBA

Podcast

The new HITECH law expands HIPAA's health privacy rules. Attorney Christine Roberts provides an overview of the requirements and offers some tips on what to do now to prepare on eba.benefitnews.com/podcasts.