Brokers and advisers are the most crucial — and often overlooked — agents for effective healthcare reform. Why? Because the only group with sufficient financial leverage and power to push back against the current extractive healthcare system is the non-medical, self-insured employer. That employer group is entirely dependent on your expertise to navigate these troubled waters.
When congressional leaders propose shifting government subsidies or regulated insurance mechanisms into direct cash payments, health savings accounts (HSAs) or flexible spending accounts (FSAs), the proposal is framed as “empowering the consumer.” For advisers, it is vital to understand why this idea, which is gaining renewed traction, is not a solution but a dangerous distraction that exacerbates the fundamental problem: the wildly inflated price and inappropriateness of care itself.
