We have discussed the dangers faced by brokers whohave not developed meaningful value-added, consultancy-basedservices for their employer clients. Those whose value propositionsstill revolve around shopping for products and services are simplywaiting to be disintermediated. They will be disrupted as surely asUber is disrupting the taxi industry. Shopping services involvecollecting, compiling, and presenting data, tasks that can beaccomplished in many different ways.

Employers agree. In one Eastbridge study, only 6 percent ofemployers described their benefits broker's key attribute as beinga “trusted advisor” while 38 percent said their broker's keyattribute was “comparison shopping” and they (the employer) did thedue diligence and made all the decisions. Employers who considertheir broker a “shopper” are likely to consider other ways to getthat task accomplished.

BV (before voluntary), things weresimple. Life insurance was lifeinsurance, and it was very different than disability, which wasdifferent than medical. Selling success revolved around shoppingtasks and relationship building skills. Today, the benefitlandscape is different. Benefits are more intertwined, related, andstrategic. Shopping may still be important, andrelationship-building will always be important, but now knowledgeand consulting skills have joined the list of requirements.

Mixing the high-deductible health plan with the right productsto mitigate the out-of-pocket costs is a routine strategic task.Weighing the comparative value of accident, hospital indemnity, orcritical illness plans is all in a day's work for today's benefitstrategist. And these changes in benefits require a strategist, nota shopper.

The good news for traditional employee benefit brokers is thatemployers have figured this out, even in cases where the brokerhasn't. Employers prefer to get their voluntary and employer-paidbenefits from the same source, so that they can become part ofa unified benefit strategy. And the larger the case, the morelikely the employer is to get both types of benefits from the samebroker. Not from the same shopper, mind you; the employer is morelikely to get both from the same consultant/strategist.

Also, 50 percent of traditional worksite/voluntary brokers nowoffer employer-paid coverages to their clients. In the mid-market,for example, and across all types of brokers, it is likely that 80percent to 85 percent of brokers offer both employer-paid andvoluntary benefits to their clients.

The bad news is that it appears that the majority of thesebrokers still behave as shoppers, filling orders and chasing thespecial in aisle nine. The future of benefits looks dynamic,challenging, and healthy. The future of brokers who are simplyshoppers does not.