The feeling of crisis that has been so front-of-mind for health insurance brokers over the past two years finally seems to be receding. It's not that brokers suddenly see the world as rosy. But now that it's become clear that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is not the industry death sentence many had feared, they're settling in and adjusting to a changed — and still evolving — business environment.

They told us about their reactions and prospects in Oliver Wyman and Benefits Selling's annual health care survey for 2015. In it, we asked more than 400 brokers and agents for their take on the market, the business environment and their plans for the future. We found producers thinking pragmatically about their situations — what their role needs to be in today's environment; how they can respond to the undeniable challenges of industry consolidation, changing customer demand, and technological disruption; and how to position themselves strategically to prosper.

Size matters