A broker who works from inside your plan, not from your renewal letter.

See the proof before you commit

Here’s what you get, in order. The first two need no engagement letter. The rest starts with the broker-of-record letter, because that’s what makes me your broker for the plan.

1. A sample Plan Report to judge first. Built for an example company, with every made-up number labeled as an example. See the sample Plan Report
2. Your renewal against public benchmarks, in about a minute. Enter your state, headcount, and renewal increase, plus your monthly premiums if you have them, in the Renewal Benchmark Check. Run the Renewal Benchmark Check
3. Switching does not add a separate engagement fee. The commission is already built into your rates; the broker-of-record letter moves it to me. Approve the engagement letter and sign the broker-of-record letter online, any time of year. No call needed. Start working with Matt
4. Your plan serviced from the day the transfer goes through. About a month after the letters go through: adds and terms, ID cards, billing and employee questions, handled. The carrier sends me the data.
5. Your Plan Report by email. It follows a signed broker-of-record letter and the transfer, usually about a month. Written from your carrier’s own data, to read on your own time and share with your partners or finance team.
6. A call only if you want one. Never a step you have to clear. Talk it through if you’d like

The checks, in order

Each check either explains part of the cost or rules it out. The order matters. There’s no point redesigning a plan if the increase came from a census shift. And there’s no point changing carriers if the price is fair.

1. Did the plan change? Deductibles, copays, out-of-pocket limits, and drug tiers can shift at renewal without a headline. A small change can make the increase look smaller than it is.
2. Did your census move? An older average age, more family enrollment, or more people on the plan all raise the bill without anyone doing anything wrong.
3. Did the network change? A network change can lower the rate and still cost your people more if their doctors drop out of it.
4. Does your funding type still fit? Fully insured, level funded, and self funded plans renew in different ways and put different risks on the company. See what level funded health insurance is and group health insurance for employers with 50 to 500 employees.
5. Are the 50+ employee rules covered? At 50 or more full-time employees, counting full-time equivalents, you’re an applicable large employer. Your lowest-cost self-only option has to pass the affordability test, which is 10.22% for plan years starting in 2027 (9.96% in 2026).
6. What do your own claims say? Over 50 employees, your renewal is usually priced partly on your own claims. As your broker of record, I get your claims experience from the carrier. In Texas, you can also ask your insurer for a claims report, and they have 30 days to send it. See how to get your claims report.
7. How is your broker paid, and was it disclosed? Brokers and consultants to group health plans who expect $1,000 or more in pay have to disclose it to you in writing, at any plan size. If you’ve never seen that disclosure, ask for it.

How it works

Step 1: Onboarding

You get: a broker you’re already paying for. Switching does not add a separate engagement fee: your current broker’s commission is already built into your rates, and the broker-of-record letter moves it to me. Then your plan serviced from the day the transfer goes through, about a month later: adds and terms, ID cards, billing and employee questions. I check the carrier’s enrollment against your payroll, so the right people are on the plan and nobody who left is still being billed.

How it starts: approve the engagement letter and sign the broker-of-record letter, any time of year. For your coming renewal, 150 days out is the latest. Nothing is analyzed or quoted, and none of your documents or claims are used, until the engagement letter is approved and the broker-of-record letter is signed. The carrier sends me your plan documents, rates, invoices, enrollment, up to 24 months of claims, and the renewal when it’s released. From you, four things payroll already has, through a secure link.

Step 2: Plan Report

You get:

• Your cost per employee next to published benchmarks, with the year on every number
• Who’s on the plan, and anyone who shouldn’t be
• How the plan is funded, and what the claims show where they exist
• Flags for the 50+ employee rules and Texas small vs. large group rating
• What’s out of line, and the strategy for your renewal

Timing: the Plan Report follows a signed broker-of-record letter and the transfer, usually about a month, and it is written before the renewal arrives.

No quotes yet, and no savings estimate. A business associate agreement is in place before any claims detail on individuals comes in.

Step 3: Renewal strategy and market

You get: your renewal checked against what the Plan Report expected, and the market shopped whether the renewal is high or in line. Fully insured, level-funded, and self-funded are shopped every renewal when group size and claims fit. What the broker is paid is disclosed in writing before the plan goes through, in dollars and per employee, on every option, with stop-loss terms where they apply. Then an owner-ready summary, a recommendation, and the decision file: what was chosen, the alternatives and why, with dates. Running or building a custom self-funded structure once it is chosen is priced separately in the engagement letter before that work starts.

For some groups, carriers need employee health questionnaires or a group application before they’ll give final numbers. I’ll tell you if yours is one of them.

Timing: from about 90 days out. Firm quotes take 20 to 25 days from submission. Open enrollment dates are locked by day 75 and announced by day 60.

The Plan Report and the renewal strategy are advisory analysis, not an accounting opinion.

See a sample renewal strategy

The renewal calendar

Not every plan year starts January 1. Count back from your renewal date.

• Any time: approve the engagement letter and sign the broker-of-record letter. The transfer takes about a month, and servicing starts then.
• 150 days out: the latest to approve for the coming renewal.
• About 120 days out: I review your claims.
• About 90 days out: the renewal is in hand, and the market is shopped.
• 75 and 60 days out: enrollment dates locked, then announced.
• About 45 to 30 days out: open enrollment.

Already inside 90 days? I can still take over servicing now. Whether this renewal can be shopped depends on having the census, claims and renewal more than 60 days before it.

What you keep

Everything I build is yours: the Plan Report, the quotes and the decision file. You can revoke the broker-of-record letter at any time.

Sometimes the answer is that your renewal is fair and the best move is to keep what you have. I’ll say so.

How your data is handled

• No Social Security numbers, ever.
• Documents come through a secure link. Email me and I’ll send it.
• Your company says okay before any census data moves.
• Claims detail on individuals is protected health information. It only comes in after a business associate agreement is in place.

Start working with Matt

You get a broker you’re already paying for, and your plan serviced from the day the transfer goes through. The Plan Report follows a signed broker-of-record letter and the transfer, usually about a month. Five answers on the form below start it, any time of year. Nothing is analyzed or quoted, and none of your documents or claims are used, until the engagement letter is approved and the broker-of-record letter is signed.

Talk it through if you’d like. A call is always optional.

Want to see what comes back first? Here’s a sample Plan Report.

Is my renewal increase normal, or is it high?

For context, KFF’s 2026 survey found total family premiums rose 5%, to $28,303 a year. Your number depends on your group. The Plan Report follows a signed broker-of-record letter and the transfer, usually about a month, and puts your costs next to published trend.

My renewal is due in a few weeks. Is it too late?

Not for switching. I can take over servicing any time and start right away. For this renewal, 150 days out is the latest to approve for the full strategy. Approved between 150 and 90 days out, I still shop it, on a tighter schedule. Approved 90 days out or later, I can shop this renewal only if the census, claims and renewal are in hand more than 60 days before it. Otherwise it’s handled as it stands, and the full strategy starts with the next one.

How long does it take?

Approve the engagement letter and sign the broker-of-record letter any time. The transfer takes about a month, and I start servicing the plan that day. The Plan Report follows a signed broker-of-record letter and the transfer, usually about a month. The renewal strategy runs from about 90 days out. Firm quotes take 20 to 25 days from submission, and it ends with an owner-ready summary and the decision file.

Do I have to switch brokers to get this?

Yes. The broker-of-record letter makes me your broker for this plan, and that’s what lets me work from the carrier’s own data. Switching does not add a separate engagement fee: your current broker’s commission is already built into your rates, and the broker-of-record letter moves it to me. Nothing is analyzed or quoted, and none of your documents or claims are used, until the engagement letter is approved and the broker-of-record letter is signed. You can revoke the letter at any time.

What are the health insurance requirements for employers with more than 50 employees?

If you averaged at least 50 full-time employees, counting full-time equivalents, in the prior year, the IRS treats you as an applicable large employer. That brings the employer shared responsibility rules and annual reporting. Texas insurance law draws its own line: 2 to 50 employees is a small employer and 51 or more is a large employer, which changes how your plan is rated.

What does health plan benchmarking mean here?

Putting your cost per employee, your contribution split, and your plan design next to published surveys for companies like yours. The Plan Report does it with your carrier’s own data. It follows a signed broker-of-record letter and the transfer, usually about a month.

How are you paid?

Onboarding, servicing, the Plan Report and the renewal strategy are included. Pay is carrier commission, often set in the rates the carrier files with the state, and it is not billed to you. Between the broker-of-record transfer and the next renewal, the existing commission schedule already in the carrier contract applies, and the employer’s premium does not change. Every dollar on the current contract and every renewal option quoted is disclosed in writing before the plan goes through, in dollars and per employee. Self-funded is a standard option shopped every renewal, alongside fully insured and level-funded, when group size and claims fit. Running or building a custom self-funded structure once it is chosen, or a special project outside standard broker placement and servicing, is priced separately in the engagement letter before work starts. How I’m paid.