Lowered commissions, increased competition, loss-ratio mandates,buying direct from exchanges, carriers withdrawing from the medicalmarket, and on and on and on. While it has become fashionable forindustry pundits to talk about the impending demise of the broker,benefit managers and employers tell the real story. In a surveyreleased in early 2010, the majority of benefit managers said theyuse a broker for their benefits package.

The exact percentage varied by size of the case as seen below:But even more important than the percentage using a broker is theincreasingly important role the broker is playing. Several yearsago, benefit managers felt that the role of the broker was“secondary” and that they were doing much of the due diligenceand/or decision-making. In the more recent survey, however, almosthalf (48 percent) of benefit managers said their broker eitherinvestigates the alternatives and makes recommendations or is theirtrusted advisor whose advise they typically follow.