There's a great deal of businessbuzz around getting more "focused" in 2020. The reality is that,for benefits brokers, it's not just a snappy catchphrase. Focusingyour services and providing clarity within the increasingly murkywaters of health benefits will be critical for your business'survival. Only those who are willing to get creative, bechange-makers, and meet employee's needs will come out ahead.

However, three significant hurdles will prevent many benefitsbrokers from succeeding in 2020:  compliance confusion, anaversion to change, and the need for creative bundles that arecommunicated to employees effectively.

Compliance confusion

The myth that "the ACA individual mandate is gone" is adangerous one to believe. The truth is, we don't know what's goingto happen with compliance at the federal level in the coming yearor two. The other reality is that some states — California, RhodeIsland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Vermont, as well as D.C.— havetheir own individual mandates in place or in progress. To date,only New Jersey and D.C. have prepared written guidance to helpemployers navigate these unique rules. California's new mandatetakes effect in January 2020 and, according to the State of California Franchise TaxBoard, can cost a family of four about $2,085 annually if theydon't qualify for certain exemptions.

Related: How uncertainty over ACA is affecting healthcare

So even if an employer is squarely rooted in a state, the rulesand mandates within that state and the changing landscape at thefederal level can be exceptionally confusing. If brokers work withmulti-state employers, those challenges are exponentiallymagnified. Employers will need reliable brokers to help them stayon top of these complexities. In turn, brokers need to understandhow the solutions they provide to clients are affected by changinglegislation and by crossing state lines.

Aversion to change

The health insurance coverage that existed ten years ago isgone. Those low deductibles with low copays plus low monthlypremiums are no more. Yet, many employers — and even brokers — areholding onto the past and resisting change that has alreadyhappened.

An astounding variety of solutions have popped up to addressgaps in care and coverage within this new reality, including directprimary care, telehealth and more. When presented with newsolutions, a common knee-jerk reaction may be, "My employeeswouldn't want that. They'll want what they've always had." But ifyou ask the employees themselves, you'll likely get a differentanswer.

You see, there's often a disconnect between what employees wantand what those offering their benefits think they want. In manycases, it's a generational difference and, while youngprofessionals are screaming their approval of these alternatives,it falls on deaf ears. For example, the Employee Benefit Research Institute foundthat millennials are more than twice as likely as baby boomers andone-third more likely than Gen Xers to be interested intelemedicine options. Millennials are also much more likely tovalue and participate in proactive wellness programs like seekingcounseling on stress management and taking mindfulness classes.

What happens when this cohort — now the largest generation in the U.S. laborforce — is offered benefits hand-selected by someone who doesn'tshare their priorities? To succeed in 2020, benefits brokers needto acknowledge this possible disconnect and find ways to bridge thegap between what employees want and what their employers—thosemaking benefits decisions for them—think they want.

Creative bundling  andcommunication

The good and bad news for benefits brokers in 2020 is that thereare endless combinations of benefits ready to be pieced together.Some of these solutions are just what employees are asking for, butyou need to be willing to get creative and bundle them in effectiveways and communicate those packages clearly.

Also read: Virtual care 2020: What's next?

Those are two very different challenges: bundling the solutionsand then communicating them effectively. They also require skillsets that brokers haven't had to hone as expertly in years' past.You'll likely need to come up with combinations this year you'venever pieced together before. Some of the solutions are rathercomplicated or, at least, unorthodox in their approaches. They'llrequire top-down education to communicate it first to employers, sothey understand the value of what they're considering and how itoperates differently from what they've traditionally had and,second, to employees so that they know what steps they'll need totake to enroll in, or engage with, their new benefits.

Solutions like direct primary care and telehealth can helpreduce costs and can give the majority of today's workforce thetransparent and accessible health care they want. As a benefitsbroker, you're tasked with being a change-maker in 2020, whetheryou choose to see yourself that way or not. The status quo is nomore. Traditional solutions are long gone. Many employees alreadyaccept that and are hoping for better benefits from theiremployers. This is the year to meet them where they are and helpthem bridge the gap.

Andy Bonner is the CEO/Co-Founder of Healthcare2U, an integrated,hybrid direct primary care organization.