A. Keith Freshour, Director of Sales and Marketing, gets back to basics
As the newly appointed Director of Sales and Marketing for Covenant Administrators, Keith Freshour oversees the entire sales process in the company’s Atlanta office.
In addition to four years with Covenant Administrators, his sales experience spans more than 20 years in the insurance business.
In his current role, he embraces a “back to basics” approach, addressing the root cause of rising claim trends, rather than shifting costs.
“The real cause of rising health care costs is lifestyle. If we can give individuals incentives to make changes, we can have a direct impact,” Freshour said.
In fact, 71 cents out of every dollar spent on health care claims is related to lifestyle, underscoring not only why lifestyle management programs are successful, but also why they are the only option that will bring long-term results.
“The most gratifying part of my job is to show our clients that we kept their rate increases below trends, while their employees got healthier,” Freshour noted.
He believes that one of the key differences between Covenant’s lifestyle management program and a wellness program is that wellness programs don’t offer the financial incentives that drive people to get healthier.
“While memberships or discounts to health clubs, health fairs, or smoking cessation programs are a nice benefit, they do not provide an incentive to use them. Generally the people who benefit the most are those that are already motivated to stay healthy,” he said.
On the other hand, a lifestyle management program provides the financial drivers that are necessary, along with programs and resources to support healthy lifestyle changes, particularly in those who need it most.
“The only way for self-funded organizations to beat the rising cost of health care is to get back to the root cause and make employees accountable for their own health. We can help them build a program that will do just that.”
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