The stakes are high in the employee benefits industry — you know that. Employers struggle to foot rising insurance and health care costs. Employees face the awful task of determining and weighing risk – whether to see a health provider and incur medical debt, or forgo medical care and hope there will be no health consequences. How both tribes deal with those costs can have business-changing – and, sometimes, unfortunately, life-threatening – consequences. What can a broker or advisor do?

Some stick with the status quo and hope for the best. Others go all "mad scientist," says Allison De Paoli, founder of  ALTIQE Consulting, experimenting with whatever is new and radical. Unfortunately, she says, "There aren't too many in the middle. We need to change that for the sake of our clients." In her session at BenefitsPRO Broker Expo in Austin on Monday, De Paoli delivered a pep talk on dealing with change, with practical tips for brokers and advisors in the middle.