Conflicts of interest in the health insurance industry: “Who watches the Watchmen?”

“Who watches the Watchmen” is a catch phrase in the popular comic book, movie and TV series “The Watchmen.” But superheroes and their stories aside, the question is a good one. When people or companies are put into positions of power without oversight, what is to prevent them from taking advantage of the situation? That question is at the heart of a lawsuit between the School Board of Osceola County, Florida (SBOC) and Gallagher Benefit Services, one of largest and most recognizable health benefits brokers in the country.

In November 2021, SBOC filed a lawsuit alleging that Gallagher had breached their contract, ignored the negotiated annual fee cap of $195,650, and secretly collected additional commissions totaling nearly $4 million over four years. Furthermore, SBOC alleges that Gallagher intentionally committed fraud and breached their fiduciary duty for a very simple reason: greed.

That last paragraph got a little technical, so let’s break it down, to understand why every employer and every broker in the country should be paying attention to this case.