Benefits at Work

03/22/2026

If your golf equipment is 40 years old, you are probably sacrificing some great results… is your health insurance plan similar to what it was decades in the past?? If so, you are probably also sacrificing some great results, like $0 access to care.

Watch as Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Jason Day and Jon Rahm step back in time and test hit the very first metalwood from TaylorMade designed i...

11/28/2025

So many things we are thankful for!! Have a great Thanksgiving

11/22/2025

It’s been a busy season for B@W!! We are and to have added 5 new group clients over the past 6 weeks with 5 more likely to come onboard in the next 2 weeks and a few more before the end of the year!

Thank you for trusting us to help your people, especially when there is sooooo much “turbulence” in the healthcare space!

Happy Thanksgiving season to all!

11/18/2025

https://www.ameritas.com/insights/estimate-dental-costs/
Dental benefits can help you save money and stay healthier. Ameritas has tools to help you estimate your costs on common procedures. Don’t have dental coverage? We have you covered, visit (https://myplan.ameritas.com/id/010A2997) to find a plan for your needs.

Cost concerns are often the reason people put off going to the dentist. Ameritas insurance members can estimate dental costs before seeing the dentist.

11/14/2025

Agent or advisor??? Quick story

60 year old male is on a Blue Bronze plan paying $1116 monthly!!! In 2026 the same plan was going to $1699!!… for a Bronze plan (we didn’t write it)

I helped (advised) them setup an LLC with the state, get a FEIN, and now getting a small group plan. The Bronze plan is $776…. Almost $1000 monthly that stays in their pocket!! And we start that December 1… why wait to save??

11/04/2025

Do you have a business with 2 people or more? If you are currently paying for an individual/family policy, we need to talk ASAP!!! Currently reviewing a family who has a Gold plan. December 1 setup will save them $1500 MONTHLY with a Gold plan, compared to the renewing rates!!! That savings is $1000 less than their current payment in 2025!

2 eligible in the group and only 1 has to participate.

Subisdies are going DOWN and premiums are going UP through the Marketplace!! Don’t wait!!

Is someone working for you to find options?

09/03/2025

The “filed” rate increases (health insurance) for 2026 are HIGH!! That is the bad news for individuals and small groups with fully insured plans… it is time to consider all of your options and have an agent/broker/advisor who understands self-funding, direct contracts, DPC, and most importantly, can explain these things to you AND your employees!!

Analysis-Strategy-Education-Support

08/15/2025

From Aaron Cichy…

𝗜 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝟭𝟬𝟬+ 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂:

Your good years are funding someone else's yacht.

Manufacturing company. 182 employees. Five years fully insured:
• Paid: $10.2M total premiums
• Used: $8.7M in claims
• Carrier kept: $1.5M

Two bad claims years. Two good claims years. One average.
Carrier still pocketed $1.2 million.

"But what if we have a bad year?"

You did. Twice. They still won.

Here's what changes with self-funding:

𝗙𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱:
Bad claims year = 25% increase
Good claims year = 15% increase
You never win.

𝗦𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱:
Bad claims year = stop-loss kicks in
Good claims year = you keep the savings
You control the outcome.

Real client. 156 employees. First year self-funded:
•

07/22/2025

If you don’t have access to your data, then how can you make an educated decision??

Do you have access to your health plan data (claims data)? We recently saved over $100,000 on a surgery. It cost the individual $0!!! He’s happy!! The employer is happy!!

What if there would have been an EXTRA $100,000 spent? What increase would you expect to see on a 7 person group??? 😳

07/07/2025

Employer groups with under 50 employees are VERY underserved, when it comes to healthcare options. This is a space where we have really been able to help many groups!!

04/24/2025

From Mark Cuban via LinkedIn…

“Healthcare is a very simple business. We go to the Dr. The Dr tells us what we need (if anything). The ONLY questions are:
1. What does it cost
2. How will the patient pay for it

Everything else is a complication.

Unfortunately, those complications have removed all alignment between patients and the economics of healthcare

The big insurance companies and the PBMs they own, create almost all of the complications.

They are able to do so because they control the flow of patients for hospitals/providers and drug manufacturers. They are the gatekeepers for trillions of dollars of healthcare spending. Everyone has to kiss their ass and accept the complications. And they know the more they can complicate it, the better the financial engineering they can do

They do this via their control of networks of providers and drug formularies. That's it.

It's a simplification. But if we end their control of networks and formularies , healthcare can be transparent. prices will come down.

Then the only question becomes how do patients that can't afford their care pay for it

Answer: We use the trillions we just saved to help them.

The best place to start is by getting Self Insured Employers to stop using the big companies that create the complications. The alternatives are better. But the employers are stuck in the old "no one ever got fired for using IBM mindset.

Next, we need to get CMS to end PBM controlled formularies and to make the Medicare network of providers available to everyone and anyone. Not just Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Of course they will be paid more. But if we significantly reduce all the complications , they can make money on less. we have seen this with our direct contracts.

This is of course an oversimplification in a lot of ways. But CMS and employers have to start looking at the big picture so interests can be aligned and the complications removed. It will create better solutions for them and everyone.

It's absolutely insane that insurers create plans that are optimized for their own profitability, doesn't matter whether it's an ACA, MA or employer plan. And as part of those plans they effectively get to decide the amount of cost and risk that the employer, consumer and provider take. .

They create new plans as often as they want with whatever features they want and everyone else from employer to patient to provider has to absorb the administrative costs and all the complications associated with them

Is it any wonder that overhead is anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of our 5T spend ?

sorry for the rant. and I'm sure a lot of people disagree. But healthcare truly is a simple business.

It's time for CMS and all of us to make decisions that simplify the industry “

04/20/2025

Getting custom golf equipment that matches your speed and ability is necessary to maximizing your potential. If you have decision making authority with your company’s benefit package, a custom built setup is equally important, especially with the health plan.

If you are only being shown the traditional insurance companies, then you do not have the best “fitter” showing you all of your options. Do you want to buy “off the rack” or do you want a customized setup that matches your strategy? Think about it

Oklahoma City Human Resources Society