BeneSmart

09/25/2026

Quick test for anyone who signs off on the company health plan.
Do you know what it costs per employee per year? Per covered person? What share of claims is pharmacy? How fast the total is rising year over year?
Our free Benefits Benchmarking Worksheet lists twelve numbers like these, with the normal range next to each, and asks one thing: do you know yours? Eight or more, you are in good shape. Fewer, and you are paying for something you cannot see.
Ten minutes, no sales call:

Download FREE strategies on healthcare cost reduction strategies for employers in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield MO, Milwaukee, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Tampa, Orlando and Naples

09/23/2026

Changing benefits brokers does not change your coverage. Same plan, same network, same cards for your team.

The broker-of-record letter is one page. It tells the insurance carrier who represents you. It is not the agreement. At BeneSmart that is a separate signed document: a twelve-month engagement with the scope spelled out in writing.

If a broker asks you for the letter and nothing else, ask why. Here is what the letter does, what it does not do, and when to sign it:

A BOR letter is one page and six fields. Signing it too close to renewal costs a full cycle. Here's the calendar math, the rejections, and the countermand.

09/22/2026

If your company's health plan gets a "pharmacy rebate" check every year, know this: that check is not a discount.

A discount lowers what you pay. A rebate is a partial refund on a price that was set higher in the first place, and it's paid to the middleman before it's paid to you.

Worth asking: is what your employees pay at the pharmacy counter calculated on the higher price, or the refunded one?

A bigger rebate check can actually mean your plan spent MORE.

Ask for net cost per member per month instead. It's the one number that can't be inflated.

New on the blog, link below.

PBM rebates explained for employers: the 3 places rebate dollars disappear, why a bigger check can mean a worse contract, and what to measure instead.

09/21/2026

"We saved you 12%." Compared to what?

A lot of savings numbers in employee benefits are measured against a renewal that never actually happened. Others come from raising the deductible, which is not savings at all. It moves the cost to your employees.

We count three things: lower medical claims, lower pharmacy costs, lower admin fees. Each measured against what you actually paid before.

If a number cannot be traced to one of those three, it is a projection.

See how we work: https://calendly.com/benesmart/consult_teams

09/18/2026

If your company self funds its health plan, your stop-loss contract has fine print that matters more than the price.

Ask two questions before you renew. Can the carrier single out one sick employee and cut their coverage at renewal? Is there a written cap on how much the price can go up?

Both protections exist. You get them by asking. Full explanation on the blog: https://benesmartservices.com/blog/no-new-lasers-guarantee-stop-loss/

Rich Westermayer, BeneSmart. 314-798-7563

No new lasers guarantee stop loss vs. rate cap, compared across 5 dimensions: what each protects, what voids it, and why one without the other leaks.

09/17/2026

Quick question for business owners: do you know what your health plan costs per employee per month, and whether that is high or low for a company your size?

Most owners only see the total premium and this year's increase. Our free Benefit Benchmarking Worksheet helps you pull your own numbers into one page, so the next renewal is a conversation instead of a bill.

Free in the Download Center: https://benesmartservices.com/download-center/

Rich Westermayer, BeneSmart. 314-798-7563

Download FREE strategies on healthcare cost reduction strategies for employers in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield MO, Milwaukee, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Tampa, Orlando and Naples

09/11/2026

We turn away more companies than we sign, and that is on purpose.

BeneSmart works best with employers spending at least 500k annually on their health plan, usually in manufacturing, construction, or logistics, where the CFO or owner wants to understand what is driving health plan costs, not just find a cheaper quote this year.

If that is not you, no hard feelings. If it is, the first step is a free 30 minute call, and plenty of employers leave it deciding to stay put with a much clearer picture on how they can cut costs. Book here: https://calendly.com/benesmart/consult_teams

09/10/2026

Got a renewal increase you were told is final?

It probably is not. That number is built from four parts, and three of them are estimates. Your actual claims are the only hard fact, and that is usually the one thing you were not shown.

Three signs it has room in it:

1. It came as one percentage with no claims detail.
2. You were told to decide long before the insurer's real deadline.
3. It assumes costs are climbing when yours were flat.

Want a second opinion on the number? Book 30 minutes: https://calendly.com/benesmart/consult_teams

09/07/2026

Happy Labor Day from the BeneSmart team.

To everyone on the factory floor, the job site, the loading dock, and behind the wheel: thank you for the work you do. And to the leaders who work to keep good health coverage in place for those crews, thank you too.

No business talk today. Enjoy the day off. Back Tuesday.

09/04/2026

Switching benefits brokers is simpler than most employers think — one signed page, and your coverage doesn't change at all. Same plan, same network, same cards for your team.

What trips people up is timing. Between processing, the window your old broker has to contest it, and the months a new broker needs to actually shop your renewal, a letter signed too late just changes the name on the paperwork.

Count backward from your renewal date, not forward from today. Here's the math: https://benesmartservices.com/blog/broker-of-record-letter-explained-what-employers-need-to-know/