Paul H. Flowers Jr.Senior Business Consultant, Superior Insurance Advisors, LLC · 2024 Hot 100 honoree. 2026 Health Value Award. Fiduciary process documented. 30 to 40 percent health-plan savings for 100 to 2,000 employee CFOs. 3x number one bestseller.

Who Pays Your Benefits Broker? The Question to Ask Before You Renew

25 Jul 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:48

In this brief advisory video, Paul H. Flowers Jr. highlights a hidden conflict of interest in employee benefits brokerage: most brokers are paid by insurance carriers through commissions and bonuses that increase as the employer’s premium rises. This means the advisor who helps control a company’s second‑largest expense can profit more when the company pays more. Flowers recommends that companies put broker compensation in writing, opting for a flat‑fee structure with full disclosure that aligns the broker’s earnings with actual cost savings rather than premium volume. He urges leaders to ask their broker to itemize every dollar earned on their account, using this question to test the broker’s transparency. The video concludes with a call to action to run numbers on his website, pauldeflowersgr.com.

Chapters

Quick question: who actually pays your benefits broker? Most leaders assume their broker works for them, but much of a broker's pay comes from the carrier—commissions and bonuses that grow when your premium grows. So the person advising you on your second biggest expense can earn more when you pay more. If your lawyer were paid by the other side, you'd fire them by lunch. The companies winning on health costs made one move first: They put their advisor's pay in writing. Flat fee, full disclosure, aligned with savings, not with premium. Ask your broker one question this week: show me every dollar you earn on my account. Then watch the reaction. I'm Paul H. Flowers Jr. Run your numbers at pauldeflowersgr.com.