In this episode, Nick sits down with Dave Kerrigan of BenefitPitch for the podcast's first ever guest appearance. Dave shares insights from 20,000 benefit professionals based on their search activity in BenefitPitch, revealing what employers and brokers are actually looking for, what's surprisingly popular, and what categories may be ripe for disruption.

Key Takeaways:

• Pet insurance and pet services ranked 4th among all benefit searches on BenefitPitch, signaling it's approaching must-have status
• EAP services topped the list and COBRA and tax-advantage health accounts (e.g., HSAs, FSAs) rounded out the top three, suggesting these are "staple" categories
• Categories like COBRA, ACA compliance, and benefits administration keep getting searched year after year, which signals an opportunity for disruption rather than satisfaction with existing solutions
• GLP-1s are likely to expand well beyond weight loss into addiction, behavioral health, and other categories that employers aren't yet fully accounting for in their benefits strategy
• Dave is bearish on ICHRA enrollment projections, arguing that adverse risk selection could cause individual market premiums to outpace employer contributions over time

Resources:

• BenefitpitchBenefitPitch Trend Report | Super Benefits Bowl: The 2025 Recap
• Linkedinlinkedin.com/in/djk74