How Benefits Brokers Can Add Prevention to Their Offering

Benefits brokers can add prevention by connecting existing insurance coverage with personalized health insights, guidance, and rewards that encourage ongoing participation. That helps employers close engagement gaps, gives brokers a way to stand out, and turns participation data into proof of value beyond enrollment.

Getting an employer to purchase a benefits package is a success. But what happens after enrollment? Do employees understand what they signed up for? Do they use their benefits? Do they come back throughout the year?

These questions are changing the conversation about how to sell employee benefits. For brokers, the opportunity helping clients get more from what they already invest in.

U.S. employers face a familiar challenge: health benefits represent a growing investment, but spending more does not guarantee better results.

According to KFF's 2025 Employer Health Benefits Survey, average annual premiums for employer-sponsored family coverage reached $26,993, a 6% increase from 2024. Rising costs make benefits value an increasingly important renewal conversation.

Cost pressure is also changing what employers expect from their benefits partners. According to Business Group on Health's 2026 Employer Health Care Strategy Survey of 121 employers, employers project a median 9% cost increase for 2026, and 51% were changing or conducting an RFP for health and well-being vendor relationships.

Competitive coverage still matters. Employers also want to know whether employees understand what is available, take part in existing programs, and have reasons to stay engaged.

That's where brokers can bring additional value: addressing the gap between offering a benefit and creating meaningful participation. Access alone does not produce engagement.

A prevention-driven benefit connects daily health actions, personalized insights, and incentives with coverage employees already hold. It gives people a reason to return between claims and enrollment windows.

The engagement gap often begins with understanding. MetLife's 2025 research found that only 57% of employees fully understand what their benefits cover, while 72% want benefits communications tailored to their needs. Todd Katz, head of Group Benefits at MetLife, said employees "recognize the value of benefits, yet many still don't fully understand what's being offered.

Betterfly US brings this experience together through three pillars: Benefits, Prevention, and Rewards.

Betterfly's how-it-works model connects these pillars through six steps: Connect, Understand, Recommend, Act, Reward, and Prove.. Coverage becomes easier to understand, health insights lead to guidance, and healthy actions earn rewards. Aggregated data then helps employers evaluate engagement.

For brokers, this creates an offering designed to remain relevant between enrollment periods and insurance claims.

Brokers don't need to replace existing insurance products to introduce prevention. The opportunity is to complement the protection clients already provide.

Consider an employer offering life, accident, and critical illness insurance. These products serve an important purpose, but they don't typically require employees to interact with them every day.

Adding preventive insights, guidance, and rewards can create additional touchpoints between employees and their benefits package.

Cross-selling employee benefits works when the added solution answers a specific employer need, such as low engagement with voluntary benefits. Betterfly's perspective on rethinking insurance gives further context.

A more connected employee experience differentiates a broker more than the longest benefits menu does.

Renewal is a natural opportunity to move beyond pricing and coverage toward a conversation that also considers employee engagement.

1. Review the existing benefits: Examine coverage, costs, and available enrollment and utilization data.
2. Identify engagement gaps: Ask whether employees understand their options and what participation data is available
3. Connect prevention to a client need: Show how preventive health insights and incentives can complement existing coverage.
4. Define measurable goals: Agree on realistic targets and establish how participation will be reviewed throughout the year.

Instead of saying, “We have another benefit you can add,” try: “We've reviewed what your benefits cover. Now let's discuss how to help employees engage with them throughout the year.”

Tie the recommendation to a problem the employer already wants to solve. For the employer's side of this conversation, see What Is an Employee Benefit Plan?

Say a client enrolls 800 employees in a benefit, that may look like success. But how many actually use it? How many return? And what happens to engagement after enrollment?

For brokers, these questions create an opportunity to demonstrate value beyond the initial sale. Enrollment shows access; engagement adds another layer of insight.

A renewal meeting built on participation data can cover whether participation is growing, which programs draw interest, and where communication needs work.

Betterfly provides a monthly Insight Report with aggregated engagement, utilization and health trends.

Higher engagement doesn't automatically prove lower medical costs or better clinical outcomes. Outcomes require additional evidence, and Betterfly reports are aggregate and de-identified: employers never see an individual employee's health data.

Enrollment shows who signed up. Engagement shows what happens next.

Brokers don't need to build their own platform to offer a more connected benefits experience. Betterfly brings Benefits, Prevention, and Rewards together. Pilot partners receive dedicated onboarding and sales support and co-marketing opportunities, 

Clients renew with brokers who show them a better way to benefit: coverage employees understand, use, and return to throughout the year.

Ready to go beyond coverage? See how prevention and rewards can complement the benefits you already place in offer for brokers.