Is the C-suite finally ready to listen?

Of all the ways benefits brokers might describe themselves, “ahead of their time” might not be one of the first that comes to mind. But for brokers who have found that too often the alternative health care cost containment strategies they’ve been preaching have fallen on deaf ears, that may have been the problem. But there’s some good news: your audience may finally be ready to listen.

A recent session at the BenefitsPRO Broker Expo offered a peek behind the curtain of the C-suite, exploring their feelings about their health plans, and, more importantly, their brokers. Becky Randles, director of business development with Imagine360 and a veteran of the broker community herself, delved into the results of the company’s recent survey of C-suite executives, while Jason Hamelin, director of financial planning and analysis with Werfen, provided his own perspective.

“Overall, they are pretty happy,” Randles said, noting that almost 75% of respondents would recommend their broker. But prod a little deeper and the cracks show.

“As far as believing health care brokers are looking out for their clients, not as many,” Randles said, adding that less than half think their broker acts as a financial advocate.

For benefits professionals, who eat, sleep, breathe and even sweat employee benefits, the fact that a significant number of respondents don’t feel like their broker is doing a good job talking about strategies such as reference-based pricing or direct primary care will come as something of a dagger to the heart.

Despite their best efforts, there’s a contingent of employers who still don’t know a world outside of BUCAHs. But they’re increasingly ready to have their eyes opened. One attendee offered her personal testament: “We left our last broker because they didn’t offer anything besides a traditional BUCAH. I was the person in HR saying, ‘We’re not doing this because it’s never going to work.’”

After educating herself and learning that these new solutions could help reduce costs while maintaining quality and access for employees, she became a believer.

Similarly, Hamelin recounted his previous employer, who had been working with the same broker for years and just accepting the yearly cost increases — until his company acquired a smaller company that utilized a reference-based pricing model.

“After two years of learning how the plan works and observing, seeing how much less expensive it was, it really caught the attention of the CFO, and we had a big advocate in the head of HR,” he said. “They came with a different broker, one that was more forward-thinking. As financial professionals, we rely on brokers to be the experts in your industry, and we want you to provide thought leadership for us.”

What’s more, employers who don’t have a broker to guide them are forging their own paths. According to Imagine 360’s survey results, three in 10 employers are looking into reference-based pricing on their own. “We do get people contacting us directly,” Randles said, noting that employers and C-suite members are also approaching Imagine360 at conferences to learn more about their options.

For benefits professionals who have been ready to take employers down this journey for years (ever since they read about reference-based pricing in BenefitsPRO a decade ago), a new crop of converts is ready — but only if the message is right. “Finance is so important, especially with the economy the way it is,” Randles said. “We as brokers have to be mindful of the financial part.”

According to Hamelin, CFOs and other financial professionals are increasingly talking about health care costs. He’s involved in a number of networking groups and said that “in the last six months, there’s been three national sessions specifically focused on health insurance, specifically where people are asking to learn about reference-based pricing.”

One networking group has even arranged for experts to come and talk at these events. “I wasn’t seeing that a year ago, two years ago. It’s a real hot topic right now for CFOs,” Hamelin said.

Getting in with these networking groups will be key for benefits brokers looking to reach this new group of people seeing the light.

“Find out when they’re offering smaller roundtable sessions and offer to particulate. That’s where the dialogue is going to be the most fruitful. Outside of that, CFOs are busy people. Have some Microsoft Teams meetings. Organize and open one up to a community of CFOs. Don’t make it an hour, make it 30 minutes, but make it content-rich. If you can serve up the topic in an educational fashion, they’re going to participate.”

Indeed, Randles agreed; education is what the C-suite is craving right now. “We asked, ‘What will it take to overhaul your health care benefits?’ The answer: Awareness of a better answer. Be their answer.”