Let’s be real: Insurance isn’t there to protect you. It's is a financial product made to maximize shareholder value.

Since employer group plans need to offer the same coverage to everyone, employer-sponsored plans are sometimes the only way that people with serious or chronic health conditions can get any disability or life insurance at all. 

The game begins. You have one calendar year to spend the money. The company has a year to collect it back from you. If you both follow the plan, you’ll both walk away scot-free, with the taxes you didn’t spend still in your pocket.

What if, instead of inflating wages with cash, the company offered to pay for something even more valuable than cash? The health of workers and their families. 

Did you know that if your company has more than 50 employees (100 in CA, CO, NY, and VT), the employer sees all the prescriptions people take?  They don’t know who, but if there are fewer than 100 people it’s pretty easy to guess who needed a prescription to control their excessive underarm sweating. Or who's on Lithium.

The many layers of humans and technology that go into insurance deductions can make it hard to track down where the problem is. And because of the old school systems insurance companies still use, it can be like traveling back in time. 

For years, health insurance costs have already been increasing at more than double the rate of inflation. But even factoring in that trend, next year’s numbers seem like a prank. 

Insurance premiums have been increasing at more than double the rate of inflation for the past 3 years. In 2026, employer group plans are expected to increase nearly 8%. 

Employers have discretion about what's covered in their HRA plan, which is what makes them so useful. The company decides the annual limit, as well as specifications like whether to cover deductible expenses, post-deductible expenses, and/or over-the-counter expenses and services.

A PEO is an insurance broker, a guardrail, and a payroll provider. But it’s not a brain. Some people need a PEO. Some need a person. Most don’t know which they are.

What we’re really seeing is misaligned incentives disguised as authority. They have no reason to follow through, just respond. We wouldn’t put up with this in any other business service.

Even the fancy ben admin tools. Somewhere behind the curtain, someone is downloading a form and forwarding it to a carrier. Often using unsecured email.

Everywhere I went, I saw the same thing: Employees didn’t understand what they signed up for. Brokers didn’t really understand either. HR didn’t want to touch it. Claims were denied. People thought their plans sucked.

I don't know who needs to hear this, but Qualifying Life Events (QLEs) aren't written in stone.

Given the significant cost of many COBRA premiums, PeopleOps teams should be prepared to answer departing employees’ questions about COBRA i

Read on for 12 practical tips on how to structure and present your employee benefits to get the most out of your organization’s greatest ass