To Those Who Built It With Us
A Letter From John Clay
There are two ways to look at a business.
One is the surface way. The website tagline. The quarterly reports. The metrics.
The other is what most people miss – the reason it must exist. The reason it keeps existing.
The moral obligation behind it. The fight.
We started Better Source Benefits not because the world needed another benefits advisor—but because we saw too many leaders playing blindfolded with loaded weapons. They were told their healthcare plan was “fine.” That costs “just go up.” That nothing could be done. And they believed it. Because the system wanted them to believe it.
We said no.
We said – what if your plan wasn’t just a line item, but a leverage point? What if you stopped trying to control a system that was built to control you?
And over the years – this message has found its people. Municipalities. Cities. Nonprofits. Private businesses. Organizations built by people who care—really care—about what happens to their teams. We’ve helped them shift from fully insured to self-funded, from reactive to proactive, from budget hostages to financial strategists.
We’ve helped counties save over $180,000 in year two. We’ve helped nonprofits claw back three-quarters of a million dollars and raise every employee’s wage. We’ve helped cities like Corbin cut costs, eliminate drug copays, and turn benefits from a liability into a reason people stay.
That’s good work. That’s real work. That’s work you can measure. But numbers aren’t what I remember most…
I remember them.
I remember her.
A city employee in her early 50s. She’d skipped every check-up for five years because her old plan had a deductible so high it might as well have been a denial. She kept putting off a scan her doctor recommended. “Too expensive,” she said. “I’ll do it next year.”
Then, her city signed on with us. We overhauled the plan. We built it around actual use, actual care—not corporate incentives. Diagnostic care became covered, with no out-of-pocket. She went in for the scan.
They caught the mass in time. She’s alive today because her benefits changed before her body did.
I remember a janitor named Mike – working for a community college we helped restructure. His son had a rare autoimmune condition. The meds were specialty-tier, thousands a month. The old plan only covered half, and Mike was working two jobs just to keep up. Our pharmacy strategy sourced the same medication at zero cost to him. For the first time in two years, his kid didn’t skip a dose.
He didn’t need a thank-you. But he sent one anyway. A card. Handwritten. Said it wasn’t just the medication. It was the dignity of not having to choose between food and his son’s health.
This is what they don’t tell you about benefits. It’s not a plan. It’s a promise. And when that promise is broken – when leaders unknowingly keep broken systems in place because “it’s easier” – people pay with more than money. They pay with their health. Their time. Their peace of mind. Their children’s futures.
Our work has saved organizations millions. But more importantly – it has saved lives.
And that never starts with comfort. It starts with courage.
Because the leaders we’ve worked with – they didn’t move forward because it was easy. They moved forward in spite of the fear. At the time they made the decision to leave the “safe haven” of a fully insured plan, it probably felt uncertain… risky… maybe even reckless. But they looked beyond the illusion of safety. They questioned the system. And they acted in the best interest of their people – even when the road ahead wasn’t fully lit.
And to those leaders – we thank you. You’ve helped us turn this mission into a movement.
This Friday, we celebrate the anniversary of Better Source Benefits.
To our partners – the ones who helped us stitch together a system that didn’t exist before. You stood beside us when it would’ve been easier to keep playing the traditional game. You brought creativity, transparency, and grit into a broken industry – and we built something remarkable together. Not perfect. But honest. And human.
To our employees – you don’t wear capes, but you carry the weight of people’s lives in your inbox. You’ve caught billing errors that saved families thousands. You’ve fought for second opinions, for formulary exceptions, for quiet moments of human dignity that no one outside this industry will ever see.
But I see it. And I am proud beyond words to walk beside you.
To our clients – you are the reason this company exists. You stood at the edge of “what we’ve always done” and had the courage to ask, what if we could do better? You left the illusion of safety behind – not for applause, but for your people. And because of you, lives were saved. Wages were raised. Fear was replaced with access.
And insurance became protection again – not paperwork.
And to our future clients – If you’re watching this and wondering if the leap is worth it…
If you’ve ever sat with a renewal and thought, this can’t be the best we can do – You’re right. It’s not. There’s another way. And when you’re ready to find it, we’ll be here.
Happy Birthday, Better Source Benefits.
Here’s to the years behind us, the lives protected, and the quiet courage it took to build something that matters.. The fact that our work brings clarity, control, and real savings to organizations? That’s deeply fulfilling.
But the fact that we’ve been able to protect individual lives?
That’s priceless.
And that – will always be the real reason we exist.
