A spreadsheet of options is not advice. A recommendation is.
Handing an employer twelve columns of quotes shifts the hardest part of the job onto the person with the least time for it. We finish the work: which option to take, what it costs to take it, and what you give up if you do — plan design, administration and disruption weighed against price, because the cheapest quote and the right decision are frequently not the same.
Price is one input, not the verdict.
Every recommendation is argued across the same three questions, so you can see why one option won.
What It Costs
Total annual cost on a normalized census, for the employer and for employees at each tier. A saving that lands entirely on employee contributions is not a saving for the plan. Total cost by tier is the foundation of a renewal recommendation. Compare ways to split an increase with our free renewal cost sharing calculator.
What Changes for Employees
Deductibles, networks, prescription coverage and the doctors people actually use. The option that saves the most is often the one that changes the most. Employee impact is weighed alongside price in every renewal recommendation, because people feel changes in the doctor’s office.
What Changes for You
Enrollment, billing, eligibility files and who answers when something breaks. Administration is a cost even when it is not on the invoice. Administrative impact belongs in the renewal decision, because the work lands on HR and payroll every month of the plan year.
One recommendation, with the reasons and the trade.
What reaches your desk is short enough to decide from and complete enough to defend.
The Recommendation
One option, named, with the reason it beats the alternatives in plain language. One clear recommendation, with its reasoning, makes the renewal decision simple to make and simple to explain to leadership and employees. One option is named, with the reason it beats the alternatives.
What You Give Up
Every recommendation has a cost somewhere. We state it rather than leave you to discover it at open enrollment. Stating the trade-off up front prevents surprises at open enrollment, when employees see the change for the first time. Nothing is left to discover.
What Would Change Our Mind
The conditions under which a different option would be right, so the decision can be revisited on evidence rather than on the next sales call. Stated conditions make renewal decisions revisitable on evidence, not on the pitch of the next carrier or broker to call.
The recommendation is only half the work.
The decision still has to be implemented without errors that cost money later.
Implementation Checked
Enrollment, eligibility and first invoices checked against what was agreed. Some carriers will not adjust a billing error past a fixed window, so errors are cheapest caught early. Checking implementation protects the renewal decision. Enrollment, eligibility and first invoices are checked against what was agreed.
Employees Told Clearly
What changed, what did not, and what to do before the effective date, in language people read. Clear employee messages complete the renewal and keep the calls to HR down in the first weeks of the new plan year. Plain language works.
Measured Next Year
The following renewal is judged against what this decision was supposed to deliver, not against a fresh set of quotes. Measuring results against the plan closes the renewal loop and makes next year’s decision better informed than this year’s. Promises get measured.
The Renewal Recommendation: The Detail
A recommendation should explain not just what to do but why. These are the elements.
The Renewal Explained
What the carrier proposed and what is driving the number. A clear explanation separates the pieces of the increase, such as plan changes, market trend and your own group’s experience, so you can see which parts are open to discussion and which are not.
The Alternatives
How other options compare on cost, design, and network. Comparing options fairly means looking at more than premium. Benefit design, provider access and how each option could change at the next renewal all matter to the employees who use the plan.
The Recommendation
What we advise and the reasoning behind it. A recommendation should come with its reasoning and its tradeoffs, so your team can challenge it, adjust it and decide for itself. The decision always rests with the employer. Whatever the advice, the final decision remains with you.
The Next Steps
What decisions and deadlines are ahead. Knowing the sequence and who needs to act helps HR plan ahead for employee communication and enrollment, and avoids last-minute choices when carriers or vendors have fixed dates. Ask for a calendar of dates so your team can plan around them.
Common Questions About the Renewal Recommendation
What is in a recommendation?
The renewal analysis, alternatives, our advice, and next steps.
Do you recommend a change every year?
No. Sometimes the right advice is to renew.
How do you decide?
By comparing cost, design, network, and risk for your workforce.
Do we have to follow it?
No. The decision is yours.
When do we receive it?
In time to act before the deadline.
Can we discuss it?
Yes.
What if the carrier changes the offer?
We update the analysis.
Does it include employee impact?
Yes, including network and cost changes.
How do we start?
Send your renewal.
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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