Ep #364: An Agent by Any Other Name... - With Carl Schuessler, Jr.

This week’s episode features a conversation with Carl Schuessler, Jr., Managing Principal at Mitigate Partners. Acting as a fiduciary means acting as stewards that improve financial outcomes. There is an emphasis on trust that has become even more apparent with the creation of the Affordable Care Act. Fiduciaries also deliver active management as opposed to passive management, a beneficial role that provides massive savings.What You’ll Learn From This Episode:02:08 Agent, advisor, and broker: A fiduciary role involves trust and stewardship role06:07 There are opportunities to act as fiduciaries in non-Erisa plans08:58 The Affordable Care Act made fiduciary roles even more relevant13:54 The differences between active and passive risk management17:54 Getting employers to partner with a fiduciaryQuotes:03:48 “I think while there is an opportunity of the interpretation whether or not a consultant is a fiduciary of a health plan, I think there is no question that a properly aligned consultant is a steward of the employer’s plan.”10:04 “When it (Affordable Care Act) came to existence in 2010, there has been an explosion of innovation. And you and I talked about this prior for an industry that was stagnant of 50 years. And so now, I think our role acting as a fiduciary and steward has never been more important.”13:59 “Active management is an employer taking control of their healthplan spending with the right solutions built in and cost containment and risk mitigation to control their costs. And it’s also about improving member outcomes. And lastly, financial outcomes for both the members and the employers.”18:38 “We go through what we call the 6 opportunities of health care: the cartel, lack of pricing transparency, medical billing errors, the traditional PPO discount game, the pharmaceutical shell game, and David you saw it because I gave that talk in Tampa, and the lack of information and data.”