I won the business from one of the largest brokerage firms in the country --- even though I had ZERO employees and started my business two weeks before. 

Champion's team had 3 issues with the former firm:

1. The broker wasn't disclosing all forms of compensation paid to them by vendors...this meant that the broker financially gained from Champion's losses. ❌

2. The broker didn't clearly outline their scope of services, so the client wasn't sure who was supposed to do what. ❌

3. Their broker wasn't bringing any innovative ideas to the table that might reduce their growing healthcare expenses. ❌

By carving commissions and carrier bonuses out of the client's insurance products - the client knew that I was working for their interests --- not against them.

This should be the minimum criteria for selecting a benefits firm, but it's amazing how few employers require this payment model.

Since my newly formed benefits firm was free to have an agnostic perspective on the entire marketplace of strategies and solutions, discovery and education were the focus of our first year with the client.

With so many choices, how can you possibly know what's right for a client until you've conducted a formal discovery process???

We planned the work...and then worked the plan.

After considering a wide range of options, we moved the client to a partially self-funded plan with the help of Andrea Brokamp, MBA of East Coast Underwriters, LLC.

After getting the first claim reports, we saw that the group was overpaying for a few specialty drugs that cost about $80,000/year.

With the help of Paul Pruitt and SHARx, LLC, we were able to get these same drugs for about 40%-50% less.

These activities resulted in the following:

1. The employees had stronger coverage.

2. The company saved over $284,000 compared to what it would have spent if it had continued with the big-box brokerage firm.

3. After 34 years, Champion Solutions Group exited for a multiple that the owners were thrilled with.

Lesson:

✅Alignment is a prerequisite for eliminating the $300 billion that employers overpay for healthcare each year.

✅If you're not working with a fee-based benefits consultant, you have no chance of realizing these gains.

✅"Fee-based" means that the firm does not accept compensation from health plan vendors in any form (i.e., bonuses/overrides etc).

Since 2021, all forms of compensation are required to be disclosed to employers, but most brokers have ignored these regulations because they know they don't create nearly enough value to justify their income.

The sooner HR and Finance professionals understand these dynamics, the sooner organizations and individuals will have the economic stability needed to pursue their dreams.