Cypress Benefit Solutions

10/15/2026

Where does your company fall on the Performance Spectrum?

Low-performing benefits programs share the same signs: costs keep going up, every renewal is a scramble, and employees are confused about what they have.

High-performing employers work a plan. Leadership is aligned, renewal isn't the only option on the table, and employees understand and use their benefits.

Rate yourself from 1 to 10. If you landed below a 7, let's talk about what it would take to move up before your next renewal.

10/13/2026

Quick question for any business owner: do you know who else is in the health plan pool behind your renewal?

Fully insured small group enrollment has dropped from about 17 million people to about 10 million over the past decade, and many healthier groups have moved to other arrangements like level-funded plans. That can leave the remaining pool more expensive, and insurers are proposing a median 14 percent increase for 2027.

We put together a plain-language guide to what is happening and what you can do about it before you renew.

For most small employers, the fully insured group health plan is the default. It is familiar, predictable, and easy to administer, which is exactly why so many employers renew into it year after year without a second look. What many of those employers do not realize is that the pool…

10/06/2026

Quick heads up for any business owner or HR leader: Q4 is packed with employee benefits compliance deadlines, and several of them land within weeks of each other.

Medicare Part D notices and a key retirement plan filing deadline both hit October 15. Notices for health reimbursement arrangements starting next year need to go out now. A federal attestation requirement is due at the end of December. Most of these get handled by a broker or administrator, but it is worth confirming rather than assuming.

We put together a plain-language guide to what is actually due this quarter and why it matters.

Q4 is one of the busiest stretches of the year for employee benefits compliance, and several deadlines land within weeks of each other. Most employers rely on a broker, carrier, or third party administrator to handle these notices and filings, and in most cases that reliance is well placed. It…

09/29/2026

Did your health plan renewal come back flat this year? With most employers bracing for a steep increase, that can feel like great news. It is worth asking one more question before you celebrate: who actually benefited from getting to flat?

A flat premium can mean your plan genuinely had a good year. It can also mean the network got a little narrower, the deductible crept up, or the carrier priced low this year expecting to correct it next year. None of that shows up in the number itself.

We put together a plain-language guide to telling the difference, and the questions worth asking before you sign off.

A flat renewal, meaning no increase at all in what the employer pays for the coming plan year, sounds like unambiguous good news under any circumstances. It sounds even better this year, when national surveys are pointing to the steepest increase in employer health benefit costs in more than fifteen...

09/22/2026

Opened your health plan renewal letter yet? If the number was bigger than you expected, you are not alone. Employers nationwide are seeing the largest benefit cost increase in more than fifteen years.

The short version of why: specialty medications, more employees using care, and hospital systems consolidating and gaining negotiating leverage. The good news is that employers still have real options, from plan design changes to smarter claim management to a closer look at whether your funding arrangement still fits your group.

We put together a plain-language guide to what is driving the increase and what you can do about it before you sign off on this year's renewal.

National benefits consultants are reporting the sharpest year over year increase in employer health benefit costs in more than a decade, and the projections for 2027 point to renewal numbers that will be larger than anything most employers have seen in a long time. If you are heading into a…

09/15/2026

Quick question for any business owner or HR leader: if someone asked you to list every structural option available for employer-sponsored health benefits, how many could you name?

Most employers know two or three. Fully insured, maybe self-funded if they have heard of it. But there is a much broader landscape out there, including level-funded plans, ICHRAs, PEOs, group captives, direct primary care arrangements, and more, each with its own fit and tradeoffs depending on your workforce and situation.

We just published a complete guide to all of them in plain language. If you have ever wondered whether there is a better way to structure your benefits and never gotten a full answer, this one is worth a read.

Most employers make benefits decisions based on what their broker presents. And most brokers present a narrow slice of what is actually available in the market. The result is that a significant number of employers are renewing the same structure year after year without ever knowing that meaningfully...

09/08/2026

Here is a question worth asking about your company's health plan: do you know who your Pharmacy Benefit Manager is and how they are being paid?

Pharmacy costs now make up about 24% of total employer health plan spend and are one of the fastest growing cost categories out there. But most employers have very little visibility into how the pharmacy side of their plan actually works or whether they are getting the pricing and rebates they were promised in their contract.

We wrote about this topic this week including how PBMs make money, where the real savings opportunities are, and which types of employers are positioned to take advantage of them. Worth a read if pharmacy costs have been on your radar.

Pharmacy spend has become one of the fastest-growing and least-examined cost categories in employer-sponsored health plans. According to the Business Group on Health, pharmacy expenses now account for roughly 24% of total employer healthcare spend, with projections pointing higher in the years ahead...

09/01/2026

Quick compliance heads-up for any employer with 50 or more full-time employees.

The IRS just released the 2027 ACA affordability threshold at 10.22%, the highest it has ever been. This number determines whether your employee health insurance contributions satisfy the employer mandate affordability standard. The penalty for getting it wrong went up about 13% this year, so it's worth double-checking before open enrollment is finalized.

We just published a plain-language breakdown of what this means and a checklist to work through before your 2027 plan year begins.

On July 21, 2026, the IRS released Revenue Procedure 2026-26, which sets the ACA affordability percentage for plan years beginning in 2027 at 10.22%. That is up from 9.96% in 2026 and marks the first time the affordability threshold has exceeded 10% since the ACA was enacted. It is also…

08/25/2026

Here is a reframe worth thinking about: employee wellbeing is not a feel-good expense. It is one of the most direct drivers of productivity, retention, and healthcare costs in your business.

Employees who are stressed about their finances, avoiding care because they can't afford the copay, or managing untreated mental health challenges are not performing at full capacity. That gap between what they could contribute and what they actually do shows up in your numbers, even when it's hard to trace back to the source.

We wrote about the research behind all of this this week and what employers can actually do about it. Worth a read if wellbeing has felt more like a nice-to-have than a business priority in your organization.

There is a version of the employee wellbeing conversation that sounds like a feel-good initiative with a soft return on investment. Wellness programs, mental health resources, flexible schedules, and benefits that go beyond the basics are easy to categorize as nice-to-haves rather than business nece...