A broker who works from inside your plan, not from your renewal letter.

See the proof before you commit

Here’s what you get, in order. The first two cost nothing and need no signature. The rest starts with the broker-of-record letter, because that’s what makes me your broker for the plan.

1. A sample Plan Report to judge first. Built for an example company, with every made-up number labeled as an example. See the sample Plan Report
2. Your renewal against public benchmarks, in about a minute. Enter your state, headcount, and renewal increase, plus your monthly premiums if you have them, in the Renewal Benchmark Check. Run the Renewal Benchmark Check
3. My pay in writing before you sign anything. In dollars and per employee. Then you sign the engagement and broker-of-record letters online, any time of year. No call needed. Get your Plan Report
4. Your plan serviced from the day the transfer goes through. About a month after signing: adds and terms, ID cards, billing and employee questions, handled. The carrier sends me the data.
5. Your Plan Report by email. Written from your carrier’s own data, to read on your own time and share with your partners or finance team.
6. A call only if you want one. Never a step you have to clear. Talk it through if you’d like

The checks, in order

Each check either explains part of the cost or rules it out. The order matters. There’s no point redesigning a plan if the increase came from a census shift. And there’s no point changing carriers if the price is fair.

1. Did the plan change? Deductibles, copays, out-of-pocket limits, and drug tiers can shift at renewal without a headline. A small change can make the increase look smaller than it is.
2. Did your census move? An older average age, more family enrollment, or more people on the plan all raise the bill without anyone doing anything wrong.
3. Did the network change? A network change can lower the rate and still cost your people more if their doctors drop out of it.
4. Does your funding type still fit? Fully insured, level funded, and self funded plans renew in different ways and put different risks on the company. See level funded vs fully insured.
5. Are the 50+ employee rules covered? At 50 or more full-time employees, counting full-time equivalents, you’re an applicable large employer. Your lowest-cost self-only option has to pass the affordability test, which is 9.96% for plan years starting in 2026.
6. What do your own claims say? Over 50 employees, your renewal is usually priced partly on your own claims. As your broker of record, I get your claims experience from the carrier. In Texas, you can also ask your insurer for a claims report, and they have 30 days to send it. See how to get your claims report.
7. How is your broker paid, and was it disclosed? Brokers and consultants to group health plans who expect $1,000 or more in pay have to disclose it to you in writing, at any plan size. If you’ve never seen that disclosure, ask for it.

How it works

Step 1: Onboarding

You get: my pay in writing, in dollars and per employee, before you sign anything. Then your plan serviced from the day the transfer goes through, about a month later: adds and terms, ID cards, billing and employee questions. I check the carrier’s enrollment against your payroll, so the right people are on the plan and nobody who left is still being billed.

How it starts: you sign the engagement letter and broker-of-record letter, any time of year. For your coming renewal, 150 days out is the latest. Nothing is analyzed or quoted, and none of your documents or claims are used, until the engagement letter and broker-of-record letter are signed. The carrier sends me your plan documents, rates, invoices, enrollment, up to 24 months of claims, and the renewal when it’s released. From you, four things payroll already has, through a secure link.

Step 2: Plan Report

You get:

• Your cost per employee next to published benchmarks, with the year on every number
• Who’s on the plan, and anyone who shouldn’t be
• How the plan is funded, and what the claims show where they exist
• Flags for the 50+ employee rules and Texas small vs. large group rating
• What’s out of line, and the strategy for your renewal

Timing: once the carrier data is in, before the renewal arrives.

No quotes yet, and no savings estimate. A business associate agreement is signed before any claims detail on individuals comes in.

Step 3: Renewal strategy and market

You get: your renewal checked against what the Plan Report expected, and the market shopped whether the renewal is high or in line. Quotes across carriers and funding types (fully insured, level funded and self funded), with what the broker is paid in each quote and stop-loss terms where they apply. Then an owner-ready summary, a recommendation, and the decision file: what was chosen, the alternatives and why, with dates.

For some groups, carriers need employee health questionnaires or a group application before they’ll give final numbers. I’ll tell you if yours is one of them.

Timing: from about 90 days out. Firm quotes take 20 to 25 days from submission. Open enrollment dates are locked by day 75 and announced by day 60.

The Plan Report and the renewal strategy are advisory analysis, not an accounting opinion.

See a sample renewal strategy

The renewal calendar

Not every plan year starts January 1. Count back from your renewal date.

• Any time: sign the letters. The transfer takes about a month, and servicing starts then.
• 150 days out: the latest to sign for the coming renewal.
• About 120 days out: claims review.
• About 90 days out: the renewal is in hand, and the market is shopped.
• 75 and 60 days out: enrollment dates locked, then announced.
• About 45 to 30 days out: open enrollment.

Already inside 90 days? I can still take over servicing now. Whether this renewal can be shopped depends on having the census, claims and renewal more than 60 days before it.

What you keep

Everything I build is yours: the Plan Report, the quotes and the decision file. You can revoke the broker-of-record letter at any time.

Sometimes the answer is that your renewal is fair and the best move is to keep what you have. I’ll say so.

How your data is handled

• No Social Security numbers, ever.
• Documents come through a secure link. Email me and I’ll send it.
• Your company says okay before any census data moves.
• Claims detail on individuals is protected health information. It only comes in after a business associate agreement is signed.

Get your Plan Report

You get my pay in writing, in dollars and per employee, before you sign anything, your plan serviced from the day the transfer goes through, and your Plan Report by email. Five answers on the form below start it, any time of year. Nothing is analyzed or quoted, and none of your documents or claims are used, until the engagement letter and broker-of-record letter are signed.

Talk it through if you’d like. A call is always optional.

Want to see what comes back first? Here’s a sample Plan Report.

Is my renewal increase normal, or is it high?

For context, KFF’s 2026 survey found total family premiums rose 5%, to $28,303 a year. Your number depends on your group, so your Plan Report puts your costs next to published trend and shows where to look.

My renewal is due in three weeks. Is it too late?

Not for switching. I can take over servicing any time and start right away. For this renewal, the letters are ideally signed 150 days out. Signed 90 days out or later, I can shop this renewal only if the census, claims and renewal are in hand more than 60 days before it. Otherwise it’s handled as it stands, and the full strategy starts with the next one.

How long does it take?

Sign any time. The broker-of-record transfer takes about a month, and I start servicing the plan that day. Your Plan Report follows once the carrier data is in. The renewal strategy runs from about 90 days out. Firm quotes take 20 to 25 days from submission, and it ends with an owner-ready summary and the decision file.

Do I have to switch brokers to get this?

Yes. The broker-of-record letter makes me your broker for this plan, and that’s what lets me work from the carrier’s own data. Nothing is analyzed or quoted, and none of your documents or claims are used, until the engagement letter and broker-of-record letter are signed. You get my pay in writing, in dollars and per employee, before you sign. You can revoke the letter at any time.

What are the health insurance requirements for employers with more than 50 employees?

If you averaged at least 50 full-time employees, counting full-time equivalents, in the prior year, the IRS treats you as an applicable large employer. That brings the employer shared responsibility rules and annual reporting. Texas insurance law draws its own line: 2 to 50 employees is a small employer and 51 or more is a large employer, which changes how your plan is rated.

What does health plan benchmarking mean here?

Putting your cost per employee, your contribution split, and your plan design next to published surveys for companies like yours. Your Plan Report does it with your carrier’s own data.

How are you paid?

Onboarding, servicing, the Plan Report and the renewal strategy are included, paid through the plan as placement commission, not billed to you. Until your first renewal with me, the carrier pays the commission already in your contract, shown in dollars before you sign. From that renewal, a flat $40 per employee per month at standard scope. Special projects, like a self-funded structure, are priced in the engagement letter before you sign. How I’m paid.