The benefit agent's role is vastly different from what it was just a few years ago. Brokers and agents are required to be more dedicated and creative than ever. Because employers must remain competitive to attract and maintain valued employees, they are looking to their benefit specialists for new and creative answers. Employer clients are struggling to find new ways to cut costs while offering satisfying benefit packages, even if it means looking elsewhere for benefit administration or advice.

The Changing Role of the Agent
In years past, it was not difficult for health care brokers and agents to maintain a relatively satisfied and stable client base. Many brokers founded their businesses by primarily promoting health benefits, and held a consistent client base on that alone. Staying in contact with customers and offering satisfactory service and support was usually enough to ensure that a book of business was reasonably safe.

The day of the health-only agent is gone forever. Today's benefit agents are finding themselves making substantial changes to their business models in order to shift with the marketplace and best serve their clients. That means diversifying their books of business and sharpening their advisory skills. With the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), business owners and human resource professionals are turning to their agents for guidance and support in interpreting health care reform. A recent MetLife poll found that 57 percent of employers with fewer than 500 employees say they will be relying on their consultants, brokers, and agents today more than ever. However, with the recent debates regarding medical loss ratio, professionally licensed benefit specialists are finding themselves in the position of having to defend their roles as agents. Amid the multitude of daily responsibilities of a benefits agent are the roles of advisor and consumer advocate. As benefit specialists, they are also conduits for the consumer, medical provider and insurance carrier, and an integral part of small businesses, often assuming the role of their clients' human resources department.