Nava acquires Nielsen Benefits in a move to makeover the employer and broker relationship

As the American lifespan hits a 20-year low, health issues and costs continue to outpace benefits budgets. It's clear that employers and employees are faced with an unsustainable system, but these two benefit companies aren't giving up.

Benefits brokerage Nava Benefits acquired Nielsen Benefits Group, a benefits consulting firm, in an effort to bring an alternative brokerage model to more midsize employers, lower the cost of healthcare and increase employee engagement in the right benefits. Nava prides itself in its complete fee transparency, even making all fees paid to Nava by an employer contingent on the employer's satisfaction. By joining powers with Nielsen, Nava can expand its client base and expertise with a company that shares a similar vision, says Brandon Weber, co-founder and CEO of Nava. 

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"In order to change healthcare, you have to change lives," he says. "So a big goal of ours is to triple the number of lives we serve. We also want to bring more brokers into the fold. We are trying to build a movement."

The role of brokers can be a controversial one, with many brokerages having little transparency about the compensation and perks they received from insurance carriers for peddling specific plans or benefits. While the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 demanded brokerage transparency, employers are still left questioning whether their brokers truly serve their needs or the carrier's. 

Ed Ligonde, executive vice president of Nielsen, believes this partnership will supercharge the change they wish to see in the industry. Nielsen's knowledge of the benefits industry can further the tools Nava has built, like their benefits search engine for HR teams and its benefits navigation app for employees, while Nava can engage more brokers and consultants in their vision, notes Ligonde. 

"Partnering together enhances the lives of our clients and furthers our mission of building a better benefits ecosystem for employers," he says. "It just takes it to another level."

Notably, Weber had known he wanted to work with Ligonde over a year prior to the acquisition. He had read an article on EBN covering Ligonde's work as an adviser and knew they were on the same page.

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"Ed was saying how [employee] education and healthcare navigation would be key to unlocking change in the healthcare industry," says Weber. "I literally never heard another benefits broker talk about this. I ended up having a 30-minute conversation with him and got off the call thinking that Ed needs to be part of Nava."

Ultimately, both Weber and Ligonde want to redefine the role of the broker in two ways: a broker should guide employers and HR teams in not only building but administering benefits, and a broker should be responsible for helping employees and their families navigate their benefits. If brokers are guiding employers to the most cost-effective benefits for their specific workforce while ensuring those benefits are being utilized, the overall cost of care will go down, says Weber.

For Ligonde, this would also mean taking the burden of benefits education off of already overworked HR teams. The right broker can strengthen the company and its employees.

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"We're no stranger to the fact that managing employee benefits is the second or third biggest line item expense after managing your number one asset: people," says Ligonde. "We see an incredible opportunity to be change-makers in healthcare."

While the U.S. healthcare industry is no easy institution to change, Weber and Ligonde agree that it can be done — if employers are willing to move away from traditional brokers and carrier-controlled plans.

"We've been in the trenches for years now," says Weber. "And I've never had more conviction in my statements than I do today after having served hundreds of employers and tens of thousands of employees and their families. We are going to do it."