Rather watch this instead? Catch the 5-Minute Double Click here.
As a broker, you’ve seen firsthand how most benefits conversations tend to be inherently zero-sum.
You navigate this tension every day.
Modern benefits sales cycles aren’t just longer… they’re more political. Buying decisions now involve multiple stakeholders with competing priorities, and too often the outcome feels like a negotiated compromise rather than a true solution.
One department gets what it wants.
Another absorbs the tradeoff.
That’s the reality brokers are operating in heading into 2026… rising healthcare costs, vendor saturation, and clients fatigued by point solutions that solve one problem by creating another.
But there are rare moments when a benefits decision doesn’t force a tradeoff.
Virtual Care, when implemented strategically, is one of those moments.
Because when it’s done right, Virtual Care is uniquely positioned to deliver shared wins across Finance, People & Culture, Operations, employees, and leadership… not by being everything to everyone, but by addressing the underlying friction points each group cares about most.
Instead of asking, “Who gives something up?”
The conversation becomes, “How does everyone win?”
That’s what makes Virtual Care such a powerful advisory tool for brokers today… and why it’s moved from an ancillary add-on to a core pillar of modern benefits strategy.
Let’s unpack how.
When presenting your benefit strategy, Finance is often the first hurdle… and increasingly the loudest voice in the room as healthcare cost trends continue to rise heading into 2026.
Finance leaders are trained to see healthcare in one place on the P&L… expenses.
Higher benefits costs reduce net profit.
Reduced net profit raises red flags.
That perspective is understandable. But strong finance teams also recognize that expenses don’t exist in a vacuum. They interact directly with productivity, revenue, and operational efficiency.
This is where Virtual Care changes the conversation.
When employees have fast, affordable access to care:
That productivity shows up in revenue performance, operational efficiency, and margin improvement.
Even more compelling, Virtual Care, when properly integrated into plan design, can actually lower total benefits spend by reducing unnecessary downstream utilization.
The takeaway for finance isn’t “healthcare costs more.” It’s this:
Virtual Care should be evaluated as an EBITDA lever, not just a healthcare expense.
When both the investment and the return are considered, the ROI becomes clear.
People & Culture teams are tasked with an increasingly complex mandate…
And for brokers, this is often where alignment either accelerates… or stalls. These leaders are advocating for employees, while still needing solutions that leadership can support and finance can defend.
Virtual Care aligns naturally with these goals.
It provides employees with meaningful, accessible support (medical, mental health, and beyond) without adding layers of complexity for HR teams.
Just as importantly, it reduces reactive escalations by helping employees get support earlier… before small issues become bigger problems.
For People & Culture leaders, the value is straightforward:
Virtual Care helps them support employees in ways employees actually use and value.
Operations is the stakeholder brokers don’t always hear from directly… but they feel the impact of benefits decisions every day.
They care deeply about execution.
They need people available, healthy, and able to do their jobs consistently. Unexpected absences, delays, and disruptions create real downstream consequences.
Virtual Care helps stabilize operations by:
When employees can resolve health concerns quickly… without leaving the workplace or waiting weeks for appointments… operations run more smoothly.
And this is where Virtual Care stops being an HR benefit and becomes a performance tool.
Operations doesn’t have to trade consistency for flexibility.
Employees don’t have to trade care for time away from work.
For Ops leaders, Virtual Care isn’t just a “benefit”… it’s a continuity and performance tool.
From an employee perspective, the value proposition is simple… and increasingly expected.
Virtual Care delivers on all of it.
It removes access barriers, expands support across physical and mental health needs, and meets employees where they are.
For brokers, this matters because experience without utilization doesn’t move outcomes… and utilization only happens when care fits into real life.
From an employee perspective, it’s not complicated.
It’s quality, affordable, accessible care they can rely on.
Leadership teams are ultimately accountable for the whole system.
They care about:
And in the selling cycle, this is often the decisive moment.
Leadership doesn’t want five disconnected benefits stories.
They want one strategy that aligns the organization.
Virtual Care creates that alignment by:
Because when stakeholders are aligned, outcomes improve… and brokers start building long-term partnerships.
Every organization is different.
Some are finance-led.
Some are culture-led.
Some are operationally driven.
But regardless of where decisions originate, brokers who can clearly articulate how one benefits decision delivers shared wins across stakeholders stand apart.
Because when Virtual Care is framed and implemented this way, it stops being a box to check.
It becomes a core component of a modern benefits strategy.
And that’s where meaningful change begins.
Want to go deeper?
I walk through this same stakeholder framework in a short 5-Minute Double Click video … including how Virtual Care can align finance, operations, HR, employees, and leadership under one strategy.
▶️ Watch the 5-Minute Double Click
Hi, I’m Jonathan… and for the past 15 years, I’ve helped position, service and support countless clients with our Virtual Care services. In that time, I like to think I’ve learned a thing or two about how to leverage Virtual Care to drive meaningful change. And I’d love to connect!
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