Would You Trust a Financial Advisor Paid by the Casino?
- Wes Spencer
- Aug 30
- 2 min read
When CFOs and HR Directors choose health insurance, they're usually working with a broker who makes more money when their costs go up.
Yeah, you read that right.
Most insurance brokers still get paid a percentage of your premiums. So when your company gets slammed with a 10% rate increase, guess what? Your broker just got a 10% raise. And they're getting that money from the same insurance company that jacked up your rates.
It's like trusting a financial advisor who gets paid by the casino. The math just doesn't work in your favor.
Even independent agents aren't immune. When their agency boss walks in and says "we're pushing XYZ Insurance this year," who do you think they're really working for?
The Classic Shell Game
Brokers know this looks bad, so they bury it under mountains of paperwork. You get these massive 60-page proposals stuffed with charts, graphs, and actuarial data.
You can have three different brokers present the same insurance carriers, and somehow you'll get three different sets of numbers. The underlying data should be identical, but selective presentation turns clarity into confusion.
Meanwhile, you're trying to run a business. You don't have time to become an insurance expert. You just need someone to cut through the noise and give you straight answers.
There's a Good Fix
Fee-based consulting. It cuts out the percentage game entirely. Pay your advisor a flat fee, and suddenly their only job is finding you the best deal.
When your advisor isn't getting paid by insurance companies, everything changes. Instead of data dumps designed to confuse, you get clear recommendations.
The sophisticated analytics still exist, but now they're working for you instead of against you.
Ask These Questions
Want to know where you stand?
Ask your current broker:
How do you get paid exactly?
Do insurance companies give you bonuses or special deals?
If our premiums go down, does your paycheck go down too?
Their answers will tell you everything you need to know about whose side they're really on.
The Bottom Line
The health insurance industry has built a system where the people supposed to save you money make more when you spend more. It's backwards, and it's costing you.
We built Sympl Benefits to never have that problem.
When your advisor only wins when you win, the whole game changes. Decisions get clearer, costs get reasonable, and you stop feeling like you're getting played.
Our job is to make the 10,000-foot view vividly clear.





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