Think Differently
Modern day employee benefits
What I’d Be Doing 6–9 Months Before a Health Plan Renewal
Most employers think renewal is when decisions get made. In reality, by the time you’re reviewing renewal options, there’s very little you can do to meaningfully change the outcome. Simply changing carriers at that stage is rarely strategic, and often not efficient....
Pro Tips: 2026 Health Plan Costs Are Rising—What Employers Need to Know Now
Employee benefits have a huge impact on an employer’s ability to attract and retain top talent. National surveys by SHRM, MetLife and Gallup consistently show that after pay, benefits are the No. 2 reason employees join or remain with an employer—which is why the...
Health Plans and the Power of Compounding
When our daughter started saving for her first car, she figured she needed $5,000. To a teenager, that feels impossible. But she started small, putting away what she could, little by little. Over time, those savings are adding up — and what once seemed overwhelming...
Employers: It’s Time to Reconsider High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs)
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) brings a pivotal change to Health Savings Account (HSA) eligibility and creates a new opportunity for employers to enhance the value of High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs). Section 71038 removes a long-standing barrier that...
HR’s Role in Transparent, High-Value Health Plans
What HR and Employers Must Know About Fiduciary Responsibility in Self-Funded Health Plans After years of managing health plans from the HR side, I wish I had known then what I know now. There were things I simply didn’t realize that could have made a real difference...
Kimmel Benefits + & Partners Share Health Care Innovations with Asheville Businesses
We’re thrilled to share insights (highlights) from our inaugural employer event, designed specifically to educate forward-thinking businesses on creating independent self-funded health plans. This event marked a significant step in empowering employers to take control...
Steering Toward Better Health: The Power of Patient Advocacy in Self-Funded Health Plans
If you needed surgery, wouldn't you want the best surgeon? How would you determine who's the best? You might ask friends or neighbors, but their responses have biases based on limited quality indicators. This is where Patient Advocacy comes into play. Also known as...
Direct Primary Care: A Self-Funding Strategy for Cost Avoidance
Exploring cost management in self-funded health plans isn't complete without considering Direct Primary Care. To truly appreciate what sets Direct Primary Care apart, we must first understand the more common fee-for-service model. In the traditional model, nearly 70%...
The Top 3 Ways to Lower Prescription Costs
As this series dives into the many layers of healthcare costs, you will quickly find that prescriptions are a significant driver of overall plan spend. According to The Business Group on Health’s recent survey, 24% of the median percentage of employer’s...
What I Did Not Know About My Health Plan
Starting out in the benefits world, everything I knew about self-funding came from my broker. Looking back, I realize there was a gap—I was getting the playbook but not the insights needed to manage costs effectively. Honestly, I didn’t even know which questions to...