February 1, 2007 by Employee Benefit Advisor

As my hero Robert F. Kennedy once said, "Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people walking on it." Growing up in Central Massachusetts, I learned the everyday values of what was right and what was wrong. That being said, it's a shame Bobby Kennedy is not here to help America with what is going on in the health insurance industry.

The crisis that every consumer or business owner faces when buying health insurance is caused by a flawed system. Most carriers rely on agents and brokers to sell their products and give them incentives -- commissions - to do so. What happens when premiums go down? Commissions go down. Therefore, agents and brokers really have no incentive to offer product solutions that will bring premiums down. Health care consumers are being fleeced by undereducated health care brokers who are over-occupied with commissions.