Weapons of Mass Corruption Part 1 (2025 series): Point Solutions

How some employee benefit brokers and consultants exploit "point solution" rotations to mask rising costs and sow confusion.

Back in 2018, I wrote a series about "Weapons of Mass Corruption" - tools used by bad actors in the healthcare industry to deceive us about pricing. That series covered six different weapons, from insurance carriers manipulating us by revealing only "out-of-pocket" costs, to hospitals using chargemasters for what accounts to fake discounts. Since then, the weapons have evolved. This new series examines how they've gotten more sophisticated.

While the Weapons of Mass Corruption Series is about poor practices and deceptive tactics employed by many—never forget that there are a lot of good guys out there, too. My goal is to open your eyes to what’s going on so you can ask harder questions and make better decisions. I hope this series brings attention to what goes on behind the scenes, and that it provides an opportunity for the good actors to make themselves known and to shine. Not all are created equal.

First up: the point solution fog.

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The term, “weaponization” refers to using something for an intent other than what it was designed for. When someone uses a car to mow down a sidewalk full of people, that's weaponization of an automobile. We hear the term when it comes to politics and the law, but it can apply to something as simple as a baseball bat, too. In healthcare, some employee benefit consultants have weaponized point solutions. What started as legitimate tools to solve specific problems have become instruments of deception—frequently rotated for reasons other than improving outcomes. Instead, they are used to hide compensation, feign efforts to control costs, and justify consulting fees in a market where their core services (simple insurance plans) have become commoditized.

I first heard the phrase "point solution fatigue" seven or eight years ago from the then-president of the National Business Group on Health (Brian Marcotte). He was talking about human resources (HR) executives getting tired of managing dozens of independent healthcare vendors such as wellness platforms that might cost $1 to $5 per employee per month, telemedicine and mental health services, specific medical programs like smoking cessation, weight loss, or diabetes management, and women’s care, among many others. Second opinion services, patient navigation platforms, weight loss programs (using GLP-1s) and virtual orthopedic apps are high on the list of new point solutions.

Large, national insurance agencies have entire teams dedicated to vendor vetting and management. Each year, these teams publish recommendations to their employee benefit consultants across the country. The consultants then recommend solutions to employers. Half of employers manage 10 or more vendor relationships¹. It's not uncommon for some health plans and employers to have upwards of 20 point solutions².

Creating the fog of war

The weaponization takes form as point solutions are used to create a smoke screen. If you think of designing healthcare benefits as a battle (it often feels like it), then think of constantly rotating point solutions as the proverbial smoke screen, designed to create the "fog of war."

Large insurance agencies and their vendor management teams rotate, on average, two point solutions per year. Sometimes employers say "no thank you" because they don't want to manage change. Other times, they accept the rotation. Many are sick and tired of it³.

Recommendations are made with little supporting data. But why?

Medical insurance is essentially a commodity. In any local area, all the good medical practices and hospitals participate in all or nearly all carrier networks. Their prices are about the same. Now, thanks to Transparency-in-Coverage files⁴, all pricing is public information. It's imperfect and not all that accessible—yet. But that's changing fast.

So how do brokers and employee benefit consultants differentiate themselves? They rotate solutions in and out. Interestingly, you’ll almost never see a solution withdrawn without something else to replace it, because that would leave less to work with the following year.

With some of the point solutions, particularly those owned by health insurers (we'll talk about this in another post), money can be run through the point solution instead of through medical plans. This allows an insurance carrier to show a lower price on the medical plan because they're making it up in other services. United Health Group is particularly adept at this tactic. Dr. Eric Bricker has been tracking exactly how they pull it off.

The real numbers

What if I told you that by some accounts, HR leaders spend as much as one-third of their average workweek managing benefit point solution vendors⁵? Well, I'm telling you, it's true. That's 13-plus hours a week just shuffling contracts, managing vendor calls, answering employee questions, and coordinating between platforms that don't talk to each other.

But here's where it gets interesting. Your broker makes 2-10% commission on your medical plan. Nothing shocking there. But on point solutions—those wellness apps, diabetes programs, mental health platforms—some vendors offer commissions upwards of 50%⁶.

Think about what that means. A mental health app charging $15 per employee per month for your 100-person company generates $18,000 annually. Your broker's cut? Up to $9,000 for recommending an app.

That's just one point solution. Now, multiply that across multiple vendors, keeping in mind that larger employers typically manage 10 or more vendor relationships.⁷

Now you understand why brokers keep finding new "innovative solutions" for your workforce.

The employee experience

While brokers profit from the complexity and constant rotation of multiple point solutions, employees are paying the price. It’s overwhelming the very people these programs are supposed to help. Half of Americans report having avoided seeking care altogether because it requires so much work navigating options. More than two-thirds say every step of the healthcare process is a chore⁸. Now imagine adding 4-20 point solutions on top of an already confusing system.

Employees get bombarded with apps they don't understand, platforms they can't navigate, and programs they abandon out of confusion. And none of these point solutions talk to each other; it would be like needing a different bank account for every bill you pay.

Research shows that when organizations deploy multiple point solutions, utilization plummets⁹. Employees abandon benefits altogether due to confusion. The tools meant to improve health outcomes create the opposite effect.

Stop the madness

You don't have to accept this weaponization. The law is on your side, and you have more power than consultants want you to believe. Here's how to fight back:

Consolidate and commit. Choose solutions you believe in, solutions that work, then stick with them. It's smart business. Don’t allow the annual rotation to become part of your routine.

Demand compensation disclosures. Insist on understanding every dollar your broker receives from every vendor, including projected volume bonuses. If they refuse, fire them. The law requires it. In fact you could get yourself in trouble by not demanding it.

Follow the integration. When insurers own point solution vendors, they're playing both sides. Demand transparency about vertical integration and pricing.

The fiduciary responsibility is yours. Employers must make the best choices possible. When it comes to the constant rotation of ineffective point solutions, the answer is clear: stop the madness.

As always, feel free to reach out to me directly and confidentially. Questions, comments or anything I can help you with are welcome.

You can contact me at David.Silverstein@BrokenHealthcare.org.

1. Plescia, M. “Should New Entrants Bother With Selling Point Solutions To Employers?" MedCity News (citing WTW survey), April 2024.

2. Olson, M. “Health Plans and Employers Are Suffering an Onslaught of Point Solutions," MedCity News, June 2023.

3. McGillan, F. “Point Solution Fatigue: Zooming Out to the Population Level Can Help," MedCity News, October 2024.

4. “Health Plan Price Transparency," Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, September 2024.

5. “Point Solution Fatigue: Employers Overwhelmed by Growing List of Options," Quantum Health, 2022.

6. Mancinotti, N. “Employee Benefits Broker Commissions," Nava Benefits. March 2025.

7. Bezdicek, M. “The Evolution of Healthcare and Well-Being Point Solutions," Captive Resources. May 2024.

8. Legasse, J. “Half of Consumers Avoid Seeking Care Because It's Too Difficult," Healthcare Finance News, June 2020.

9. Young, K. “Best Practices: Healthcare Point Solution On Point," Milliman, April 2023.