COVID-19 has forever altered the business landscape. Employers and their benefits advisors must think differently about health care benefits if they hope to control costs and retain top talent in the "new normal." The fact is, health care costs are rising, people who've delayed care during the pandemic are sicker, and we face an unprecedented mental health tsunami.

Health care policies have long required us to choose between two alternatives: cost or access. Now, we must rethink these twin lenses. Why either/or? Why not both?

We stand at a crossroads. By exposing weaknesses in current health care structures, COVID-19 has caused employers and employees to re-evaluate their benefits. They want to derive the most value from the services for which they pay. Increasingly, that means employers are turning to their benefits advisors for consultative advice about the advantages of value-based insurance models, and how they differ from "traditional" benefits offerings.