Burnham Benefits to Offer Workshop at 2015 CASBO Annual Conference

IRVINE, CA--(Marketwired - Mar 17, 2015) - Burnham Benefits Insurance Services, Inc., a leading employee benefits consulting and brokerage firm with offices throughout California, is pleased to announce its participation in the 2015 California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO) Annual Conference & California School Business Expo, March 30-April 2 at the San Diego Convention Center. Burnham's public sector experts Dan Exceen and Patrick Lowry will lead a comprehensive workshop titled Employee Benefits: Purchasing from a Pooled Benefits Program. The interactive workshop will be held on March 31 from 3-4:00 p.m. and will explore the effectiveness and future of pooled purchasing for health and welfare plans, and offer valuable insight into managing the challenges and changing landscape of employee benefits.

"California was the first state to initiate pooled benefits plans for employees and most everyone attending the conference has participated in one," says Patrick Lowry, senior vice president of Burnham's public sector group. "In ideal circumstances, pools -- which spread the potential risks among a greater number of consumers -- offer employees higher quality health care options at more affordable premiums. But without a clear understanding of how they work they are less likely to be successful."

Burnham Benefits takes a non-traditional, cutting-edge approach to educating all of its clients, particularly those in the public sector where healthcare reform legislation has had a significant financial impact. "In addition to learning the basics of pooled benefits programs, attendees can take advantage of an interactive question-and-answer session, with real-time benchmarked results calculated specifically from their responses sent via smartphones during the session," says senior vice president Dan Exceen, a Burnham partner and practice leader for public entity business. "Clear and benchmarked results can give them insight not only to where they currently stand with their benefits plans but also to where they want to be in the future."

As a leading California benefits consulting and brokerage firm, Burnham has the experience and expertise to help school districts and other government agencies understand the risks and advantages, rates, options and ways pools can attain the necessary market clout to succeed. "Today and moving forward, pooled programs -- from joint power agreements (JPAs) to trusts -- will become blurred entities as each will begin to look like the other," adds Lowry, who has been providing brokerage and consulting services to schools and municipalities for more than 25 years. "Districts may well lose their ability to find the right pricing models and networks, and a progressive atmosphere that allows them to have a voice may become a thing of the past. It's crucial for these decision makers to not only have the capacity to analyze whether or not these pools bring value but also what information they would need to initiate changes."

More than 1,500 top decision-makers from California school districts and county offices of education will attend this year's CASBO conference. For more information about the workshop or to learn more about Burnham Benefits, its products, services and team members, please visit www.BurnhamBenefits.com.

ABOUT BURNHAM BENEFITS INSURANCE SERVICES: Burnham Benefits Insurance Services, Inc. is a privately held, full-service employee benefits consulting and brokerage firm headquartered in Irvine, Calif. The firm is among the largest in the state to specialize solely in strategic employee benefits consulting and brokerage services. With a comprehensive offering of client-first health and wellness programs, Burnham effectively manages more than $1.5 billion in premiums for more than 400 clients. The firm maintains a more than 97 percent client retention rate and has averaged 25 percent growth every year over the past 10 years. Because Burnham Benefits does not have outside shareholders, it can easily adapt and create customized solutions that fit clients' best interests -- investing in cutting edge technology and the tools and resources needed to provide the specialized level of service that today's rapidly, challenging climate demands. Its team of more than 75 highly skilled industry professionals includes in-house underwriters, compliance officers, healthcare reform consultants, communications specialists and wellness experts. Through a strategic partnership with Burnham Gibson Financial Group, Burnham also provides retirement planning and wealth management services. Burnham Benefits' footprint currently spans offices in Orange County, San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sacramento and San Diego, Calif. as well as satellites in Arizona and the Washington D.C. metro area. Burnham Benefits holds national recognition as Business Insurance's #1 Best Places to Work in Insurance 2013 and 2014 and has been ranked a Best Place to Work by the Orange County Business Journal for four years running. For more information, visit www.BurnhamBenefits.com.