Remote hiring put your people outside the network your rates assume.
Software and data services, publishing, broadcasting, telecommunications. The workforce is educated, well paid and increasingly not in the state your plan was quoted in.
The rate was built on one market. Your people are in twelve.
What Is Actually True in Information and Software
- Remote hiring scatters employees into markets where your carrier’s network is thin, and the rate was built on the headquarters market.
- Benefits are read as a recruiting signal here more than in most industries, and candidates compare designs line by line.
- Wage levels make account-based designs genuinely workable, which is not true in every industry and is why copying another sector’s plan fails.
- Growth is fast enough that applicable-large-employer status can change in a year, and it is measured on the prior calendar year.
What CFH Does About It
- Tests network adequacy where your people live, before the renewal rather than after the complaints.
- Benchmarks the design against the employers you actually lose candidates to.
- Models account-based designs against a payroll where employees can actually fund a deductible, and says plainly when the tax advantage is the only advantage.
- Flags the applicable-large-employer threshold in the year you cross it.
Six Industries We Serve in Information.
Each industry below has its own guide to eligibility, funding, compliance and retention for employers like yours.
IT Services and Software Company
Benefits planning, eligibility rules and cost control for it services and software company employers.
Publishing Broadcast and Digital Media Company
Benefits planning, eligibility rules and cost control for publishing broadcast and digital media company employers.
Telecom Cable and Broadband Contractor
Benefits planning, eligibility rules and cost control for telecom cable and broadband contractor employers.
Data Processing Hosting and Cloud Services Company
Benefits planning, eligibility rules and cost control for data processing hosting and cloud services company employers.
Radio Television and Broadcast Media
Benefits planning, eligibility rules and cost control for radio television and broadcast media employers.
Startup and Venture Backed Company
Benefits planning, eligibility rules and cost control for startup and venture backed company employers.
Four sizes, four different problems.
Find your headcount. What changes at that size in this industry, and what we do about it.
A small, young company is community-rated and age-banded, so a couple of hires move the renewal more than anything else does.
What we do about it: Prices the market annually and sets up a design that survives the next twenty hires.
Applicable-large-employer status and 1095-C begin, usually in the same year the company started hiring in other states.
What we do about it: Handles the threshold and the multi-state question as one problem, because they arrive together.
Claims become credible, and spend concentrates in specialty pharmacy and behavioral health rather than injury.
What we do about it: Models funding on your own claims and puts pharmacy under its own terms.
A distributed workforce means the network map is the employee experience, and carve-outs multiply the vendor stack.
What we do about it: Runs adequacy by market and keeps one renewal calendar across every vendor.
The three things employers in this sector ask us first.
Half our team is remote. Is one carrier enough?
Only if that carrier’s network is strong where your people actually live. We test that market by market before the renewal. Remote employees in markets with a thin network may pay out-of-network cost sharing for routine care, which reads to them as a pay cut. Options include a national network product, a second carrier for one region or an open-access design, each with its own pricing and administration trade-off.
How does our plan compare to the companies we lose candidates to?
We benchmark against your real competitors for talent rather than a national average, and show where you are behind and what closing it costs. That usually means the software and data companies recruiting the same engineers and analysts in your markets, compared on employee cost per paycheck, deductible, family-tier contribution and the extras candidates ask about, such as fertility coverage or mental health access.
Is a high-deductible plan with an HSA right for us, or just cheaper for us?
At your wage levels it often works, but we model it on your own claims and say plainly when the only beneficiary is the budget. The model compares total employee cost, premium plus expected out-of-pocket, at several claim levels, and shows what employer HSA funding does for lower-paid staff and heavy users. If the plan only works because employees stop getting care, we say that too.
Information Benefits: The Detail
Federal rules are the same across industries. These are the workforce factors that shape benefits for this sector.
Competitive Talent Market
Benefits help compete for technical and creative talent. Pay, culture and benefits often compete with other employers for the same candidates, so the package is judged against the market for skilled workers. Review contribution levels and plan choices in that light, and ask employees what they value. You can test your own figures with our headcount growth benefits budget calculator.
Remote and Multi-State Staff
Employees in different states raise network and compliance questions. Make sure the network works where employees actually live, and ask counsel which state notice and leave rules apply to each location. A plan that looks fine at headquarters can leave remote staff with limited access.
Fast Growth
Headcount can cross regulatory thresholds quickly. A growing company can cross employee-count lines without much warning, which may add notices, reporting or coverage duties. Track the count monthly, ask counsel which requirements apply as you grow, and build the cost into your budget before it arrives.
Rich Benefit Expectations
Employees may expect options beyond core coverage. Younger or more mobile staff may value flexible options such as voluntary benefits, telehealth and wellness support, but each one adds cost and administration. Decide which are worth offering and explain them clearly at enrollment.
Common Questions for Information Employers
How do we cover remote employees in other states?
Plan networks and state rules matter. We review where employees live.
Are there compliance thresholds we may cross soon?
COBRA starts at 20 employees and ACA employer rules at 50 full-time equivalents.
What benefits help attract talent?
Flexible design, HSA options, and voluntary benefits can differentiate. We tailor to your workforce.
Do the federal benefit rules differ for information employers?
The core federal rules, including ERISA, the ACA, COBRA, and HIPAA, apply the same way. Workforce shape is what differs.
How do we know if we are a large employer for the ACA?
By averaging full-time equivalent employees in the prior calendar year. Fifty or more makes you a large employer.
When does COBRA apply?
Generally when you have 20 or more employees.
How early should we start on a renewal?
Months before the effective date, so there is time to compare options.
What do you need to get started?
Your renewal, plan summaries, and a census.
Can you review our renewal?
Yes. Send it to us.
Related guides.
Technology and Software Companies
Benefits for remote, multi-state and fast-growing teams.
Publishing, Broadcast, and Digital Media Company
Newsrooms, radio and television stations, publishers, and digital media companies run on deadlines and creative talent.
Internet Service Provider and Telecom Carrier
Internet service providers and telecom carriers employ network engineers, customer care teams, technicians, and sales staff.
Data Processing, Hosting, and Cloud Services Company
Data processing, hosting, and cloud firms employ engineers, support staff, and operations teams who keep systems running around the clock.
Employee
Technology employees are recruited by employers in other states and, increasingly, by remote employers anywhere.
Managed IT services provider employee benefits: engineers, help desk and growth
IT service providers compete for engineers and help desk staff, often while growing fast.
Marketing, advertising and media agency employee benefits: creative teams and contractors
Agencies mix employees, freelancers and project teams.
Telecom, Cable and Broadband Contractor
Fiber crews, cable installers and tower contractors work in the field, on call and often through subcontracting chains where…
Recording, Music and Audio Production
Recording studios and audio production firms rely on freelancers and a small salaried team, so classification and flexibility are the first issues.
Web Platform and Social Media Companies
Platform and social media companies compete for engineers and moderators in a market where benefits are a standard part of offers.
Guides for specific kinds of employers.
Newspaper, Magazine and Book Publisher Employee Benefits in Michigan
How variable-hour newsroom and production staff, newspaper wage-hour carve-outs and Michigan earned sick time shape benefits for publishers.
Radio, Television and Broadcast Media Employee Benefits in Michigan
How on-air schedules, on-call engineers and a small-market overtime exemption affect benefits for Michigan radio and television stations.
Data Center and Hosting Company Employee Benefits in Michigan
How night-shift differentials, employer benefit contributions and affiliated-company counting work for Michigan data processing and hosting employers.
Video Game, Film and Digital Media Studio Employee Benefits in Michigan
How production-cycle headcount, seasonal crews and union plan contributions affect the employer mandate for Michigan game, film and digital media studios.
Library and Information Services Employee Benefits in Michigan
How Michigan’s public employer health contribution limits apply to library staff, and how to choose between the dollar cap and the 80 percent option.
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.
ERISA (29 U.S.C. Chapter 18)
The federal law that sets reporting, disclosure and fiduciary rules for employer-sponsored benefit plans.
COBRA Continuation Coverage (29 U.S.C. 1161)
Requires many group health plans to offer temporary continuation coverage after a qualifying event.
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.
HIPAA Privacy Rule (45 CFR Part 164)
Federal privacy and security standards for protected health information held by health plans.
Health Savings Accounts (26 U.S.C. 223)
Tax rules for health savings accounts paired with qualifying high-deductible health plans.
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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