In a PEO plan you carry the PEO’s assumptions, not your own. Check whether they still suit you.
For employers already in a PEO, the benefits plan arrives as part of the bundle, renewed on the PEO’s schedule and priced on its pool. We review what it covers, what it costs your employees and how it compares to the open market for a group like yours, then tell you whether any of it is worth acting on.
The plan summary tells you what is covered. The contract tells you what you agreed to.
We read both, because in a PEO the benefits plan and the service agreement are tied together.
Plan Design Against Your Workforce
PEO menus are built for the whole client base. We check deductibles, out-of-pocket limits, networks and pharmacy tiers against where your people live and what they use, so a plan that looks rich on paper is not thin where it matters.
Who Pays What
The PEO sets contribution rules and sometimes minimum employer shares. We lay out what each coverage tier costs an employee per paycheck, because that number drives more complaints and more turnover than the plan design does. Paycheck costs drive employee satisfaction with PEO benefits.
The Renewal Mechanism
A PEO renewal reflects the pool’s experience and the PEO’s pricing decisions, not only your group’s claims. We compare your renewal with what your census would have drawn directly, so you see whether you are subsidizing the pool or benefiting from it.
The Service Agreement
Termination notice, fees on exit and whether you must take the PEO’s benefits to keep its other services all sit in the contract. We read those terms first, which is why our advice fits the options actually open to you.
In a PEO plan someone else holds the sponsor role, and the information that comes with it.
The PEO is usually the plan sponsor and the policyholder. That shapes what you can see, what you can change and what happens when you leave.
Data You May Not Get
Many PEOs do not release claims data by client. Without it the open market prices you cautiously, which is why we request what is available well before any decision date. Early data requests strengthen PEO exit options. Ask well before deciding.
Changes You Cannot Make
Carrier, network and plan year belong to the PEO. If your workforce needs something the menu does not offer, the only lever left is where you buy, so we test whether that lever is worth pulling. Testing the market shows whether a PEO plan still fits.
Obligations That Stay Yours
Applicable large employer status under the ACA follows your company, not the PEO. We confirm that the offers, affordability and 1095-C reporting made on your behalf hold up for your own employees. ACA obligations stay with your company inside a PEO.
A clear answer: keep it, press the PEO on it, or plan an exit.
Most reviews end in one of three places, and each has a different next step.
Keep It
If the plan is competitive for your group and the service fits, we say so and put a date on the next check, because a PEO that suits you at fifty employees may not suit you at a hundred and fifty.
Press the PEO
If the gap is in the plan menu or the contribution rules, it can sometimes be fixed inside the PEO. We give you the specific requests to make, so the conversation is about numbers rather than impressions. Specific requests can improve PEO benefits without leaving.
Plan the Exit
If going direct wins clearly, timing matters more than the decision itself. We map notice periods, plan years and employee communications before anyone gives notice. Careful timing makes a PEO exit smooth for employees and keeps coverage and enrollment windows aligned.
What employers in a PEO ask us.
Will the PEO know we are reviewing its plan?
Only if you tell them. We work from your plan documents, invoices and census, and we contact the PEO only when you want data requested. A PEO benefits review can stay confidential until you decide what to do with the findings.
Our renewal went up more than expected. Why?
Because the PEO renews on its pool and its own pricing. We separate what your census would justify from what the pool delivered, so you know which part of the increase belongs to you. Separating pool and census effects explains PEO renewals.
Is our PEO plan compliant?
The PEO carries much of the plan-level compliance, but not your employer obligations under the ACA. We review what is filed on your behalf, and where a question needs counsel, the attorneys we work with decide it. Reviewing PEO filings protects your ACA obligations.
Where the Rules Come From.
The laws and rules named on this page link to the statute or regulation they come from. This is general information, not legal or tax advice, and rules change, so check the current text.
Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148)
The 2010 health reform law, with later amendments, behind employer coverage, reporting and market rules.
ACA Reporting (26 U.S.C. 6056)
The statute behind employer reporting of offers of coverage on Forms 1094-C and 1095-C.
Send us your renewal.
We’ll tell you whether it looks competitive, where we see opportunity, and the five questions we’d put to your carrier. No cost, and no obligation to move anything.
The renewal letter
Your current plan summary
Contribution split by tier
Enrolled counts by tier
Four documents — two more if your group is 50 or more. Nothing else; every extra one is a reason to postpone.
An independent employee benefits consulting firm. We look at the entire benefits program — cost, plan performance, risk and administration.
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