# EP512: 3 Kinds of Broker/EBC Rent-Seeking Payment Models—A Lawyer's Perspective, With Doug Aldeen

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/relentless-health-value-872220/ep512-3-kinds-of-broker-ebc-rent-seeking-payment-models-a-lawyer-s-perspective-with-doug-aldeen
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/relentless-health-value-872220/ep512-3-kinds-of-broker-ebc-rent-seeking-payment-models-a-lawyer-s-perspective-with-doug-aldeen.md
Podcast: [Relentless Health Value](https://stenobird.com/podcast/relentless-health-value-872220)
Published: 2026-05-27T17:01:00+00:00
Episode link: https://cc-lnk.com/EP512
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/healthvalue/RHV_EP512_Doug_Aldeen2.mp3?dest-id=197686
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/relentless-health-value-872220/episodes/ep512-3-kinds-of-broker-ebc-rent-seeking-payment-models-a-lawyer-s-perspective-with-doug-aldeen
Duration seconds: 2216

## Resource

Stacey Richter interviews self-insured space attorney Doug Aldeen about how broker/employee benefit consultant (EBC) compensation arrangements lead to legal trouble and excessive plan costs. They discuss problems with overly complex or overpriced direct compensation, then cover three problematic payment-model categories: rent-seeking solution recommendations (e.g., reference-based pricing "cost of savings," balance-billing programs, and voluntary benefits with front-loaded commissions), undisclosed vendor payments to brokers/EBCs that bias recommendations, and arrangements exploiting gray areas or weak enforcement under the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), including PBM per-script payments disguised as "discounts." Examples include an "Ohio Potato" level-funded case where broker fees depleted claims funds and a balance-billing vendor paid $2.2M to address only $94K risk. Aldeen offers a six-step roadmap: ask "why" repeatedly, calculate ROI, assess downstream risk, simplify/demystify compensation, run independent RFPs, audit claims/documents (including stop-loss gaps), ensure contract outs, and "trust but verify," especially with entrenched public entities. === LINKS === 🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: https://cc-lnk.com/EP512 ✉️ Enjoy this podcast? Subscribe to the free weekly newsletter: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🫙 Support the podcast with a small donation to the Tip Jar: https://relentlesshealthvalue.com/join-the-relentless-tribe 🎤 Listen on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/feed/id892082003?ls= 🎤 Listen on Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6UjgzI7bScDrWvZEk2f46b 📺 Subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@RelentlessHealthValue === CONNECT WITH THE RHV TEAM === ✭ LinkedIn https://ww…

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