Amid all the upheaval in the health care industry in recent years one constant has remained: health care costs keep rising. The Band-Aid solution has been to cut back on insurance benefits while also pushing more costs onto employees, but it's getting harder and harder to cover the wound.

Today's most successful brokers are the ones who are looking for new ways to keep costs low, rather than just a quick fix to hold them over for the year.

Here are some ideas to get you thinking >>>

1. “Encourage clients to take credit for a portion of health care costs their organization covers. This demonstrates to employees a company's commitment to their health and financial security.” —Amy Christofis, Connecture

2. “We tell employers not to be penny-wise, and pound-foolish when splitting increases with employees. While this does cost the company, hearing that the company absorbed the increase so the employees wouldn't have to makes a positive impact that goes beyond the dollars spent.” —Renee Swint, FirstSource Solutions

3. “If we just trim plans and manage every aspect of them to the point where members aren't happy, it defeats the purpose. Advisors interested in polishing their clients' plans need to look at the price side of the equation, not just the volume side.” —John Simmonds, StrateBen Inc.

4. “Empower sophisticated buyers to seek transparency—to demand to be told why there is such a big price difference and to use their purchasing power to drive prices down.” —David Newman, Health Care Institute of Washington, D.C.

5. “As clients look to decrease costs in 2018, highlight how collaborating with a disability carrier could save them time and money. A workplace equipped to identify and support an employee with a health condition can be the help he or she needs to stay at work and avoid a disability leave, or return to work faster.” —Tom Foran, The Standard

6. “Recognize that when you benefit from the problems in our system, you are part of the problem… If you can't talk with your client about how much they're paying you, then you're being paid too much.” —David Contorno, Lake Norman Benefits

7. “Every year, we see additional options of narrow networks. It hasn't had the same traction of some cost-containment strategies, but the 15% savings definitely grabs an employer's attention.” —Ken Davis, Univest

8. “Performance-based compensation is something employers should consider moving their consultant to. If your consultant is confident, shouldn't they put their money where their mouth is?” —John Sbrocco, Questige Consulting

9. “Employers have begun to realize that investing in well-being can deliver more than just health care cost savings. There is less focus on the financial impact represented by traditional ROI models and more on workforce engagement, productivity and overall business performance.” —Jessica Grossmeier, Health Enhancement Research Organization

10. “A broker who doesn't thoroughly understand reference-based pricing is not only cheating his client, he's cheating himself. Brokers are fooling themselves if they think clients don't know about this, and eventually aren't going to seek a solution, with or without them.” —Mike Dendy, Advanced Medical Pricing Solutions