A few months ago, I was speaking with a group of like-minded advisers — professionals who dedicate themselves to
We're not pitching gimmicks. We're offering real, evidence-backed solutions — strategies that lower costs by 20% or more, improve care and
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Of course we don't care more;
They're not hearing about high-performance health plans from the institutions they trust. Their brokers may be quiet. Their payroll vendors are entangled with carriers. SHRM isn't educating them about the alternatives. And disruptor platforms like DisruptHR? They won't even let solution advisers in the room. I registered for a DisruptHR event in New York City and was refunded with a message from the lead sponsor: "As the lead organizer and sponsor for these events, I can't have any industry competitors at these events." So much for disruption.
The reality is most plan sponsors don't even know what a PBM is. They're unaware of how insurers and hospital systems steer care for profit, misaligned incentives inflate costs or data is being withheld from them. They feel the pain of the current system, but they don't understand its root cause — and they're too overwhelmed to figure it out alone. We shouldn't expect them to. That's our job.
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As benefit advisers, brokers and solution partners, we need to stop trying to impress and start working to educate. Our job is not to drop every advanced concept in one meeting. It's to invite curiosity, dismantle false assumptions and show — simply and clearly — that something better is possible.
Let's also be clear: Brokers earning commissions isn't inherently wrong. But when those commissions take precedence over doing what's in the best interest of the client, those brokers are no better than the health insurers and systems that have abandoned their mission statements in pursuit of Wall Street profits. In New York, for example, where self-funding isn't allowed for groups under 100 lives, many assume they're stuck. But that doesn't mean the mission should change. We can still optimize, enhance care and lower costs — even within structural limitations.
We need to reshape the way our industry thinks about plan sponsor engagement. They're not unmotivated — they're uninformed. And it's our responsibility to guide them with empathy, not jargon. We must penetrate the market with clear, relatable content that makes them think, "Why haven't I heard this before?"
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Here's what we can do — together:1. Lead with curiosity, not complexity.2. Speak in business outcomes, not benefit jargon.3. Build tools that educate, not overwhelm.4. Meet plan sponsors where they are — not where we wish they were.5. Focus on exposure, not conversion.
Bottom line: We can't expect business leaders to change unless we change how we reach them. The truth is powerful, but it has to be delivered in a way that can be heard, understood and acted upon.Let's stop asking whether we care more than the consumer — and start helping them care differently by showing them what's possible when trusted advisers stop protecting the problem and start leading the solution.
