“Disrupter” is the term most often used to describe health careindustry thought leaders like Mark Gaunya of Borislow Insurance inBoston, Massachusetts and Andy Neary of VolkBell in Longmont,Colorado. These consultants, among many others, have developed andadopted some of the most cutting-edge ideas and strategies to helptransform how their employer clients view and fund healthinsurance. And they've done it in ways I have yet to see anyonewrite about when it comes to voluntary benefits, or as industryveteran Nelson Griswold and I refer to them, enhanced benefits.

How do you disrupt a side of the employee benefits industrywhich isn't likely to see commissions disappear anytime soon? Whererising costs are not adding extreme pressure to a company's bottomline or an employee's paycheck? Sure, you could charge an employera consulting fee to lessen employee cost and offset your relianceon commissions, but then you're asking them to help fund theimplementation, education, and enrollment of benefits that arepurposely designed to be employee funded with no outlay of employerfunds.

What about technology as a disrupter? Benefit administrationsystems and enrollment platforms have become so advanced andsophisticated we now have multilingual avatars which can educateemployees on the value and need for enhanced benefits through quickand simple whiteboard videos in an interactive and (artificially)intelligent format. Each year, technology continues to develop andimpress, and is certainly a disruptive force that challenges thestatus quo, making this type of technology a positive disruption toour market.