least common denominator

One of the lesser-known provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 is stricter disclosure requirements for group health plan broker commissions. On the surface, this seems like a great idea, especially in light of documents such as the oft-cited 2019 ProPublica/NPR report about broker compensation. What employer wouldn’t want to save more on healthcare costs by making sure that their broker isn’t making too much money off of them?

After reading the report, though, I’m left with more questions and concerns than I am with answers.

The report itself admits that its data is incomplete, stating that the investigating journalist only queried ten broker agencies, none of whom answered his questions. This makes almost no sense to me, considering that as of mid-2021, industry statistics showed 1.2 million insurance brokers in the United States — and even that figure omits the huge number of brokers who, like myself, work as independent contractors. Anyone with any level of statistical knowledge understands that this means the sample size was far too small.

That’s not the only problem with the ProPublica report. ( Keep Reading... )