Brokers who need a self-esteem boost after lingering doubtsabout their future and their overall value can look to a new reportfor some validation.

Research from the University of Minnesota finds that brokers areassociated with more and cheaper health coverage.

“Our central finding is that small firms in more competitiveagent/broker markets are more likely to offer health insurance totheir active employees,” researchers wrote in the report, posted asa working paper by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

“We also find that increased agent/broker competition isassociated with lower premiums. Finally, we find that premiums havelower variance (they are less dispersed) in markets with moreagent/broker competition.”

The report comes just as brokers are expressing fear over theirvalue. Brokers' self-doubt is in large part due to the PatientProtection and Affordable Care Act, a law that threatens theircommissions.

But despite the fact that brokers increasingly feel that clientsdon't need them, the new research—headed up by economist PinarKaraca-Mandic—found the opposite is true.

The researchers said the greater availability of brokers is keyto consumers and employees spending less on premiums.

Karaca-Mandic found that small firms were about 20 percent morelikely to offer health coverage in counties with the most brokersserving small firms than in counties with the least. In countieswith the fewest brokers, the average annual premium for a singleemployee was $5,173. In counties with the most brokers, the annualpremium was $4,495—13 percent less.