A good broker does more than shop the renewal. We measure results against a fixed baseline.
Brokers are moving from plan shopping to measured, data-driven advisory work. This is how that looks inside DATUM, the method we run on every account, and where claims audits, funding options and technology fit.
From plan shopping to measured results.
Employee Benefit News recently described how brokers are moving from plan shopping to data-driven advisory work. This is how we read that shift, and how it maps to DATUM.
Plan Shopping Is Not Enough
Rising costs, more frequent large claims and added complexity mean a once-a-year quote comparison leaves most of the story untold. The renewal letter shows the price. It does not show why the price moved or what could be done about it.
Sponsors Want Proof
Employers increasingly want the financial risk in the plan explained and indicators of success they can measure. A broker who cannot show what changed, and why, is asking to be trusted rather than checked.
A Fixed Reference
DATUM starts from a held census, so every year and every option is measured against the same baseline. That is what turns a renewal into a result you can point to.
Numbers you can compare year over year.
Data only helps if it is comparable from one year to the next.
Held-Census Repricing
We reprice on the same census, so you compare like with like instead of looking at total premium. Enrollment shifts and plan mix are taken out of the comparison.
Trend in Context
The carrier states its ask in writing. We read it against the datum and against what the market is doing, so you can see how much of an increase is trend and how much is your own group’s experience.
Wins Named Honestly
A carrier move and a negotiation are different wins. We say which one produced the savings, and we record the refusals too, which is what makes the wins mean something.
Alternatives priced, with the risk written out.
Alternative funding is part of the modern playbook. It is also easy to oversell.
Options Side by Side
Fully insured, level-funded and self-funded options are priced against the datum, with the cost and the risk in each written out in plain terms.
Risk Before Savings
Stop-loss, claims volatility and the cash needed in a bad year come before the projected saving. A lower expected cost with a risk the group cannot carry is not a better option.
Fit to the Group
Group size, claims history, cash position and appetite for risk decide what fits. For some groups the right answer is staying fully insured, and we say so.
Catching errors early.
The cheapest dollar to recover is the one that is never paid wrongly.
Claims Reviewed in Full
Routine monitoring can examine every claim instead of a sample. A sample shows patterns but can miss the one large error, so full review is what catches it.
Eligibility and Dependents
Ongoing dependent eligibility checks keep coverage for people who qualify and stop the plan paying for those who do not.
Recovery
When an overpayment is found, we pursue the recovery and report what came back, so the result shows up in the numbers you review.
Systems that carry the year.
Results hold up when the records behind them are connected.
One Connected Record
Payroll integration, enrollment and COBRA work from the same record, so a change is made once and flows where it needs to go.
Implementation as a Project
Eligibility files, ID cards, the benefits administration build and open enrollment run as a project with dates on it, and every group is tested before open enrollment begins.
Compliance on the Same Data
We can help you with the filings and help keep you ERISA compliant, working from the same plan data.
Measures that come back to you.
A result is only a result if someone checks it.
Indicators Reviewed With You
Renewal outcomes, participation, claims and compliance measures are reviewed with you through the year, not only at renewal.
The Same Five Stages
Set the datum, test the market, negotiate, implement and carry the year. The sequence repeats every year, which is what makes one year comparable to the next.
A Team on the Account
For proper coverage of an account we work in teams of five: an account executive, an account manager, a plan analyst, customer service and IT. The work does not depend on one person.
Questions Employers Ask About the Playbook
Is DATUM a product?
It is both. DATUM is our method for running an account and the connected-record platform behind it. The five stages are set out on our method page.
How is a result measured?
Against the datum: what the plan costs on a held census. Every option, and every later year, is compared to that fixed reference.
Does this only apply to large groups?
No. The same five stages run on a twelve-life group and a four-hundred-life group. What changes is how long each stage takes.
Does every group get a full claims review?
Claims review depends on how the plan is funded and what data the plan can give us. We tell you what is practical for your group.
What do we receive at the end of a renewal?
The datum, the carrier’s ask, what each alternative would cost, what was negotiated, and a plain statement of which wins came from a move and which from negotiation.
Can you start on a renewal already in progress?
Send the renewal as early as you can. The datum can be set from the documents you already have, and we will tell you what is still possible.
Related guides.
DATUM: How We Run an Account
The five stages, every year.
When to Go to Market
Timing for quotes and alternatives.
How a Group Benefits RFP Works
What happens at each step.
Want the playbook applied to your renewal?
Send us the renewal and we will run it through DATUM, then show you where the number comes from.
Your renewal letter
Your census
Your current plan documents
Your renewal date
Rough answers are fine. We build the numbers from there.
Laws and rules referenced
Employee Benefit News: Renewals to Results — Opinion piece on brokers moving from plan shopping to data-driven advisory work.
An independent employee benefits consulting firm. We look at the entire benefits program — cost, plan performance, risk and administration.
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