If James Bond worked as a benefits advisor, you can bet reference-based pricing would be among his arsenal of secret weapons. (Photo: Shutterstock)

In the James Bond series of movies, 007 always had a secret weapon to get him out of a jam. Whether portrayed by Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan or Daniel Craig, the debonair spy accomplished his mission with style and innovation every time.

Today, employers are looking for the same type of innovation and forward thinking to solve their seemingly impossible mission: stemming rising health care costs. Reference-based pricing (RBP) is one of the most impactful tools to help accomplish this lofty goal.

Attendees of the 2019 BenefitsPRO Expo in Miami are leaders in their respective markets looking to shatter the status quo with innovative programs like RBP. Competitors who cast doubt on RBP are followers. They may fear the reaction of hospitals or question whether other clients have pursued this solution.

➤➤ Be sure to attend Lester J. Morales' Education Track session, “RBP 2.0: An advisor's secret weapon” April 3 at 4:15 p.m. at the 2019 BenefitsPRO Broker Expo.

Most advisors believe that they are innovative, but their actions might indicate otherwise. Innovation requires serious commitments beyond lip service.

BenefitsPRO attendees can take one bold step in that direction will be by learning how new approaches to RBP can truly be their secret weapon in adding value to employer customers and prospective clients. The session will review:

• The evolution of RBP plans

• How RBP is built as an effective solution to reduce medical costs and make employees become better health care consumers without all the noise and balance bills

• Program benchmarks to minimize employee friction and increase engagement

• Rx strategies to complement the transparency theme of RBP

• Client and employee experiences with RBP

Considering its ability to save an average of 18 percent to 22 percent immediately on your client's health care spend, it's downright shocking just how few employers use RBP. This innovative approach results in little to no disruption for the providers that plan participants can access, while more than 99 percent of claims secure an agreed upon rate of reimbursement before a claim is incurred. (AKA, no balance bills).

For all the 007s out there in the benefits advisory space: your secret weapon awaits.

Get a head start on the RBP discussion: 

• Debunking three myths about reference-based pricing
• 3 approaches to reference-based pricing
• 4 steps to implementing a reference-based pricing program