INSIGHTS

Ideas that move the benefits conversation forward.

Strategy, cost control, and data — written for the people who actually own the benefits decision at companies with 20–500 employees.

Featured · Market Outlook · 9 min

The 2026 Employer Benefits Outlook

Where premiums, pharmacy, and plan design are heading this year — and the three moves growing employers are making now.

Read the report
Plan Strategy · 5 min

Level Funding Is No Longer "Alternative." It's the Default. Are You Still Paying for Coverage You Don't Need?

For companies with 30 to 200 employees, the old fully-insured model is quietly becoming the expensive choice — here's what's changed and what to do ab

Talent · 5 min

The New Retention Perk Isn't What You Think — And It's Coming Out of the Wrong Budget

HR teams are turning to business travel as a talent lever, but the companies winning the retention game are funding perks from a source most owners ne

Pharmacy · 5 min

The PBM Fight Is Happening in Courtrooms. Your Battle Is Happening at Renewal.

Pharmaceutical trade groups are suing states to block PBM transparency laws — and while that legal fight drags on, your drug costs keep climbing.

Cost Control · 5 min

The Real Cost of Unaffordable Benefits Isn't What You Think

When employees opt out of coverage, the financial exposure doesn't disappear — it shifts to your balance sheet.

Pharmacy · 5 min

Your Drug Costs Are Growing Faster Than Everything Else in Your Health Plan. Here's What to Do About It.

Pharmacy just became the fastest-moving line on your benefits balance sheet — and most employers are still managing it with their eyes closed.

Plan Strategy · 5 min

Your Health Plan Is a Tax You Elected to Pay

Most fully-insured employers are funding their carrier's profit margin and don't realize there's another option.

Cost Control · 5 min

Stop-Loss Is the New Renewal Fight — And Most Employers Aren't Ready for It

The part of your benefits strategy that used to run quietly in the background just became one of the most expensive line items on your renewal.

Plan Strategy · 5 min

Level Funding Is No Longer "Alternative." It's the Default. Are You Still Paying for Coverage You Don't Need?

For companies with 30 to 200 employees, the old fully-insured model is quietly becoming the expensive choice — here's what's changed and what to do ab

Pharmacy · 5 min

Your Drug Costs Are Growing Faster Than Everything Else in Your Health Plan. Here's What to Do About It.

Pharmacy just became the fastest-moving line on your benefits balance sheet — and most employers are still managing it with their eyes closed.

Plan Strategy · 7 min

Why level-funding is quietly becoming the default for 50–250 employee companies

The old rule — small groups buy fully-insured — is out of date. Here's how level-funding works and who it fits.

Cost Control · 6 min

The renewal negotiation playbook: 9 levers most employers never pull

Your renewal is a negotiation, not a number you accept. Nine concrete levers that move the final rate.

Data & Analytics · 5 min

Pharmacy is the new battleground: how to read your Rx spend

Pharmacy is the fastest-growing — and least understood — line in your budget. How to read the report.

Get the strategy behind the headlines.

Start with the 2026 Employer Benefits Playbook — the levers, plan-design moves, and compliance checkpoints we use with our own clients.