A Benchmark You Can Use.
What carriers in this market are actually doing at renewal, at your size, so the number in front of you has something to sit against.
A renewal letter gives you one number and no context. A benchmark gives you the range that number sits in, for employers like you in this market, so you can tell a fair increase from an opening position. Our free multi-year renewal increase calculator turns this into dollars for your plan.
What Is Actually True About Benchmarks
What Is Actually True
- A useful benchmark is matched on size, region, plan design and funding, not just on industry.
- A carrier’s first renewal is an opening position, and the distance between it and the final number is where a review earns its keep.
- A benchmark does not tell you what to do. It tells you whether to ask a question.
- A benchmark based on the wrong peer group is worse than none, so the comparison has to be checked, not trusted.
What CFH Does About It
- We match your plan to a comparable peer group before we compare anything.
- We separate what is market-wide from what is specific to your group.
- We state clearly what the benchmark can and cannot support.
- We use it to prepare the conversation with the carrier, not to replace it.
How We Use a Benchmark
Four ways the comparison changes what you do.
Knowing the market range beforehand turns the carrier’s number into something you can respond to.
What we do about it: We set expectations early and plan the response.
A high increase may be market-wide or specific to you, and the response is different.
What we do about it: We separate the two and challenge the part that is yours.
Sometimes the benchmark confirms the renewal, and the useful work is elsewhere.
What we do about it: We say so and move to plan design and contribution.
A benchmark helps decide whether a market check is worth the disruption.
What we do about it: We recommend a market check only when the gap justifies it.
Questions We Hear From Employers Who Are Not in Trouble
What Do You Need From Us to Benchmark?
The renewal letter, the claims report and the census are enough to start. We will tell you what else would tighten it.
Is a Benchmark the Same as a Quote?
No. A benchmark shows where your renewal sits against comparable employers. A quote is an offer from a specific carrier. We use the first to decide whether to seek the second.
Can We See a Benchmark Before We Decide to Work Together?
Yes. A first conversation costs nothing, and we can walk through what a benchmark would cover for you.
Related reading: The Renewal Math Does Not Care What You Make
Renewal Benchmarks by Size: The Detail
A renewal should be read against employers of a similar size. These are the points that make a comparison meaningful.
Size Drives How a Renewal Is Built
Smaller groups are rated differently from larger ones, so the right comparison depends on yours. Ask your adviser to place your group in the right size band before comparing, since rating methods and available plan options change as group size changes. A mismatched comparison can make a fair renewal look high or low.
Carrier Asks Are Not Final
An opening renewal is a starting position. Negotiation and alternatives often move it. Ask what drove the number, request the underlying experience and plan details, and have alternatives priced at the same time. Moving early leaves more room to negotiate than reacting at the last minute.
Plan Design Matters as Much as Rate
Two renewals at the same increase can deliver very different value. Compare deductibles, copays, networks and prescription tiers alongside the premium, so a lower rate is not simply a thinner plan. The useful comparison is what the employer and the employees pay for the care actually used.
Participation and Demographics Shift Results
Changes in enrollment and age mix can move a renewal as much as claims. Review who enrolled and who waived, and how your workforce has changed, before judging the increase. A shift in either can explain part of the change and point to levers you can actually influence.
Common Questions About Renewal Benchmarks
How should we judge a renewal increase?
Against similar-size employers, trend, your own experience, and the alternatives available to you.
Is a double-digit increase normal?
It happens, but it is rarely the only option. Ask for the build-up and the alternatives.
What does the carrier use to set the renewal?
Claims experience where credible, trend, and rating factors based on group size and demographics.
Can we negotiate?
Often yes, especially with alternatives in hand.
What is credibility?
How much weight a group’s own claims receive compared to a broader pool. Smaller groups receive less.
Do we need claims data?
It helps for larger groups. For smaller ones, the renewal is typically manually rated.
When should we start?
Early enough to market the plan, usually well ahead of the effective date.
What do you need from us?
The renewal, current rates, plan summaries, and a census.
Can you read ours?
Yes. Send us your renewal and we will explain what is driving it.
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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