Here are some opinions from the experts:
Robert Smith, president of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, said in a statement today. “Brokers do much more than sell insurance … Brokers explain critical differences in plan options and coverage. This may involve substantial research and fact-finding about the client’s needs.”
Gary Cohen, director of CMS’s Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, elaborated on this sentiment. He compared the role of brokers with “navigators” when providing information about the new Health Care Reform plans: “They are not making recommendations, they’re not selling,” he said of navigators. “Some things are the same; they will [both] provide education and inform people about options available to them. But I think you go to an agent because you want to ask the agent sort of the bottom-line question, ‘What do you think I should do?’ And if a navigator is asked that question they’re going to say, ‘I can’t tell you what to do.’”