Ed Young, CBC, CEP

Ed Young, Senior Vice President of Horton Benefit Solutions, begins his day developing creative solutions for his clients' employee benefit programs, many times while the majority of the Chicago area is still sleeping. “I find I am the most effective for my clients when I start the day early,” said Ed. The early mornings have been instrumental to Ed's success at developing best in class solutions for Horton clients for more than two decades.  Ed is one of the founding principals of the Horton Benefit Solutions division, and is among the company's leading producers.

Ed Young, Senior Vice President of Horton Benefits Services, is one of the founding principals of that division and is among the company's leading producers.

But Ed's success isn't assumed – he and his team work extraordinarily hard to both obtain and maintain client relationships. Along with manufacturing companies, Ed's main area of expertise is providing health benefits for school districts.

“With school districts, you aren't just selling a benefits program to a CFO like any other company,” Ed explained. “You have to present it to the school board and the superintendent, both of whom are very focused on staying within their budget and meeting the demands of the teachers' union.” Ed is finding great success in reducing the prevalence and severity of claims for clients through the implementation of health screenings and the bolstering of wellness communication strategies. “The health screenings we facilitate on client's worksites reveal serious medical conditions that were unknown before,” Ed stated. “These screenings are not meant to replace doctor visits. Rather, they are needed to educate employees on their health status and prompt them to become proactive about addressing medical issues.”

When asked to recall one of his major client successes, Ed described a time when one of his client's terminally ill employees died before the client informed the employee that he could switch his group coverage to an individual life policy. This switch would have made his beneficiary eligible for $50,000 – a great sum of money for a family in dire financial need. “I explained the whole situation to the insurance carrier,” Ed said. “The carrier not only issued the life insurance policy for the deceased individual, but also wrote a $50,000 check for his family.” This story, and several others from clients, is why Ed has become so successful in the employee benefits arena.

Whether it's a covered person's family coping with a recent loss or a manufacturing client trying to provide valuable coverage in the face of rising health care costs, Ed listens and responds with solutions that work.