Stop Renewing Like a Victim: What Employers Must Do Differently in 2026

If you’re an employer, you’re one of the largest purchasers of healthcare in the U.S.—and somehow you have the least control.

This is a summary episode of our conversation with Nurse Deb (Deb Alt), President of AIMM, and it drops right after the turn of the calendar—Happy 2026—in what many are calling the worst renewal season in years.

Here’s the hard truth:
If you didn’t do anything different during renewal… why did you expect a different result?

In this recap, Lester breaks down the mindset shift employers (and advisors) must make to stop being passive victims of a system designed to be opaque—and start acting like real purchasers.

We cover:

• Why healthcare is confusing on purpose (and how it mirrors getting a grocery bill with zero itemization)

• The dangerous gap: employers scrutinize paperclips, but not their 2nd/3rd largest expense

• Why consumers research cars, flights, and concerts—but not surgeons, facilities, or cost differences

• What changes when you build a plan around advocacy (call the nurse first)

• The uncomfortable “wait, what?” reality of misaligned incentives in healthcare and advisory models

• Why raising deductibles and payroll contributions is not a strategy—and never bends the curve

If you’re an employer, ask yourself:
Do I actually see my claims? Do I get data? Do we do pre-renewal?
Or am I stuck in “thank you sir, may I have another”?

If you’re an advisor:
If your entire book is carrier-centric, this is your challenge to rethink what “advising” really means.

Watch/listen with one goal: What’s one thing I can take from this episode and do differently this year?

Like, share, and comment what topics you want next—and if you haven’t heard the full episode with Nurse Deb, go listen to it right after this.