Employers are looking to their health insurance brokers to keep health care costs under control as the health care landscape is beset by turmoil.
That's according to a report from DirectPath, in which 83 percent of brokers report that employers are expecting them to assist in keeping down what they spend on health care. Brokers, for their part, are responding with a range of new products and services. In fact, 78 percent of brokers have introduced something new in the past year to help their employer customers control health care costs.
But that's not all; brokers also say employers are looking to them for help in other areas. And these new expectations are driving change in the role of the broker.
Changes in government policies on health care insurance, in the way employees want to get benefits information, and in the health insurance market as it shifts in response to pressures are transforming the landscape. Eighty-three percent of broker respondents say they find their jobs more challenging now than just three years ago. But they also view those changes as presenting a massive opportunity to to take on the role of strategic consultants to employers.
