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We Did the AI Homework. Here Is What We Found.

Eighty-five percent of brokers are using or exploring AI, yet most lack a way to judge the tools they’re offered. The failures trace back to four predictable gaps: an undefined problem, messy real-world data, thin team adoption, and unanswered questions about data ownership. Checking each one before signing helps practices choose tools that hold up and protect client data.

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Women’s Health Benefits Are Bigger Than Maternity

Women’s health needs shift across every decade of a career, from fertility and maternity to menopause and healthy aging. Many plans already include support employees never use, including preventive services covered at 100%. Reviewing women’s health as one category at renewal shows where the package already delivers and where a targeted addition would close a real gap.

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The 65 and Still Working Conversation

More employees are turning 65 while still on the group plan, and HR teams are fielding Medicare questions they may not be equipped to answer. Delaying Part B without qualifying coverage brings a penalty that lasts for life, and HSA contributions have to stop once Medicare begins. A simple employer process protects employees and keeps costly mistakes from reaching the plan.

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The Gag Clause: Decoded

Every group health plan owes CMS a gag clause prohibition compliance attestation by December 31, and who files depends on whether the group is fully insured, level funded, or self-funded. Plenty of employers assume their carrier or TPA already took care of it without anyone confirming. A quick check on funding and filing responsibility now keeps it off the year-end scramble list.

The Employer Who Stopped Renewing and Started Designing

After nearly two decades in this business, I have seen a lot of client relationships. Most of them follow the same rhythm. Rates come in, options get presented, a decision gets made, and everyone moves on until next year. That model works. It keeps the lights on and the book intact.

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The Ghost Network Problem Hiding in Self-Funded Dental Plans

Funding strategy and plan design dominate the renewal conversation. That makes sense, they are what move the number on a proposal. Dental usually just gets a GeoAccess report and a nod: enough providers within a reasonable radius, treated as good enough.

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Medicaid Work Rules + Employer Health Plans: What to Watch

Medicaid work rules may not sound like an employer-sponsored benefits issue at first. Medicaid is a public program. Employer health plans are private workplace benefits. They operate under different rules, different eligibility standards, and different funding structures. But changes in public coverage can still show up in employer plan conversations.

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Large Group Strategy Is Not Just About Plan Design

Renewal season has a way of narrowing the conversation. Rates come in, deductibles get reviewed, contribution strategy gets debated, and the meeting ends. For many large group clients, that cycle repeats itself year after year without anyone stepping back to ask a more useful question: is the plan actually working?

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There Is a Deadline Coming. Do Your QSEHRA and ICHRA Clients Know?

October 2 is the notice deadline for QSEHRA and ICHRA plans starting January 1, a date most employers miss. The gap risks penalties up to $2,500 per employee and cuts off the special enrollment period the notice triggers, sometimes leaving employees stuck for a full year. There's still time to get it right, but not for long.

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Identifying Bad Actors in the Employee Benefits Market

Wellness plans marketed as instant payroll tax savings, charity care arrangements that shift high-cost employees off a group plan before renewal, and cash-in-lieu payments dressed up as tax-free pay keep surfacing, often backed by persuasive sales materials. Regulators treat most as improper attempts to convert taxable wages into tax-free income, and the exposure lands on the employer.

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The Real Decision Behind Turning 65

More than half of Medicare beneficiaries are on Medicare Advantage, and most people approaching 65 have no idea what they're actually choosing between. Fewer zero-premium plans and shrinking supplemental benefits in 2026 raise the stakes, and the Medigap guaranteed-issue window closes earlier than most people expect.

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The Open Enrollment Story Matters More Than Ever

Most employees are confused about their benefits, and many spend less than 30 minutes deciding on coverage that affects them all year. Better communication closes that gap, and the work starts weeks before enrollment opens. Framing what changed, what stayed the same, and where to get help turns confusion into confidence.

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Your Best Clients Are About to Outgrow You

New data is flipping the PEO pitch on its head. Businesses that partner with a PEO grow twice as fast, fail 50% less often, and see lower turnover, and 87% of businesses without one say they're already interested. The smallest, fastest-growing clients in your book may be the ones most ready for this conversation, if it's framed around where they're headed instead of what's broken.

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Form 5500: Don't Get Caught Off Guard

Some advisors still think Form 5500 is a retirement plan filing, until a client gets a penalty notice for their health and welfare plan. Group health plans with 100+ participants have to file, the deadline (or October 15 with an extension) is closer than it looks, and the DOL's civil penalties climb with no cap. For clients who already missed it, there's still a path forward.

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When Traditional Group Health Stops Making Sense

More clients are showing up to renewal, not asking for a better rate, but questioning the model itself. With family premiums past $27,000 and ACA penalty exposure climbing, MEC and MVP plans paired with worksite benefits are giving brokers a compliant, affordable structure to offer instead, one that often opens the door to employers who never had a viable path to coverage before.

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Blog listing

We Did the AI Homework. Here Is What We Found.

Women’s Health Benefits Are Bigger Than Maternity

The 65 and Still Working Conversation

The Gag Clause: Decoded

The Employer Who Stopped Renewing and Started Designing

The Ghost Network Problem Hiding in Self-Funded Dental Plans

Medicaid Work Rules + Employer Health Plans: What to Watch

Large Group Strategy Is Not Just About Plan Design

There Is a Deadline Coming. Do Your QSEHRA and ICHRA Clients Know?

Identifying Bad Actors in the Employee Benefits Market

The Real Decision Behind Turning 65

The Open Enrollment Story Matters More Than Ever

Your Best Clients Are About to Outgrow You

Form 5500: Don't Get Caught Off Guard

When Traditional Group Health Stops Making Sense