In an effort to drive down inflating healthcare costs, non-profit institution Health Rosetta is searching the United States for employee benefit brokerages that offer successful methods of reducing group health costs for their clients and providing them with a certification for doing so.
St. Louis, Mo., HR and benefits firm Simpara recently became the first brokerage in the state to become certified with Health Rosetta and the 30th business in the United States to join the institution.
Adam Berkowitz, founder and president of Simpara, was inducted into the charter class of certified benefit advisers. Berkowitz says this distinction sets his company apart as a truly innovative advisory firm, one dedicated to changing broken systems and redefining the benefits industry.
“There are plenty of people within the St. Louis region that do what I do [by being a broker] and this is a mark of distinction that we are doing something different and better,” Berkowitz says. “The long-term view is the process of learning from other agents across the country that are applying cost-saving principles and doing things in a way that bucks the status quo.”
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On top of reducing healthcare costs, Health Rosetta’s mission is to drive down public spending, reduce wage stagnation, increase savings among employees and improve earnings for both employees and employers.
Dave Chase, founder of Health Rosetta, says it is forward-leaning benefits experts that are the vanguard for improving the healthcare market in the United States. “They’ve left behind wasteful, obsolete approaches that plague most employers,” Chase says. “They’re the architects and first members of the Health Rosetta Institute. They take what Margaret Mead once said to heart: ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’”
‘Tremendous strides’
Berkowitz says the next steps for Simpara and its advisory team involve learning in-depth curriculum provided by Health Rosetta and the other members of the institute followed by an examination to maintain their certified status.
“It’s not a guarantee, but it’s certainly a process to ensure we are not just awarded the certification but that we can endure a series of modules and tests to maintain our certification,” Berkowitz says. “You have to prove that you are applying these cost saving methods within the marketplace.”
The foundational components Health Rosetta focus the certification around value-based primary care, benefits concierge services, active ERISA plan management, transparent medical markets, payment integrity, transparent pharmacy benefits, transparent adviser relationships and managing major specialties and outliers such as cardio-metabolic, musculoskeletal, cancer, etc.
“It is a rare honor and a wonderful feeling to be recognized as we work to re-shape the industry,” Berkowitz says. “Our mission has always been to do away with the waste and tired practices that have traditionally left employers spending more each year on health insurance and getting less in benefits. This is a good sign that we’re making tremendous strides in that journey.”
