July 11, 2025
Louis C. Bernardi, “The Benefits Whisperer”
💥 Certified Healthcare Fiduciary Coach and Health Value Advisor 💥 I work with Business Leaders of mid-sized. Did you know that optimizing your healthcare plan can contribute directly to your company’s survival and growth? ✨ When we compare the benefits of healthcare savings to findings from a recent college essay, “Ten Reasons Why Companies Keep Failing,” the connections are clear. Let’s explore how healthcare optimization addresses these pitfalls:
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For nearly 30 years, insurance carriers and hospital systems have operated in the shadows — hiding vital data behind jargon, complexity, and a smile. They’ve groomed employers, advisors, and employees alike to believe that opaque renewal reports and cookie-cutter plan designs are all they’ll ever get.
But here’s the truth: you can reclaim control of your health plan with one simple habit — asking better questions.
It’s not magic. It’s not reserved for massive companies with billion-dollar budgets. And it doesn’t take an army of consultants. It just takes the right questions, asked to the right people.
💡 Why They’ve Kept You from Asking
When you don’t ask questions, the system wins.
Insurance carriers and many traditional brokers thrive on silence. When plan sponsors accept the status quo, they hand over control — and leave millions in avoidable costs on the table.
So, over time, we were conditioned not to ask:
- Not to ask where the money is really going.
- Not to ask why our premiums rise faster than inflation.
- Not to ask if our partners profit when we spend more.
That ends now.
🧠 What to Ask Your Broker (If You Dare to Know the Truth)
If you’re serious about optimizing your plan, start with these five questions. The answers will quickly separate true advisors from order takers:
- Can I see a detailed breakdown of our claims data — medical and pharmacy?
- How are you compensated? Do you earn more when our plan costs go up?
- What strategies have you brought to the table to reduce artificial costs?
- Can you help us identify and eliminate misaligned incentives in our plan?
- Do you have direct relationships with solution partners that prioritize value and transparency?
📊 Insurance Solutions Vary — And So Should Your Strategy
It’s also critical to understand that your insurance options will vary based on your size, structure, and location.
- In most states, “small group” rating applies to companies with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees.
- In states like New York (our home base), that threshold is 100 FTEs.
- Once you hit around 100 or more covered employees, your company is typically experience-rated, unlocking a whole new set of strategies, funding models, and transparency tools.
These thresholds are important milestones — but regardless of group size, every employer should be laser-focused on the cost and quality of the care their plan enables.
As I’ve said a thousand times:
You’re not really buying insurance — you’re buying access to healthcare. And you’re financing that access through insurance.
Just like a house, there are different ways to finance it. Want to lower your insurance costs? Start by lowering your healthcare costs. But do it without sacrificing quality — that’s the sweet spot.
🔦 Shine a Light. Take Back Control.
Asking the right questions won’t just reveal what your current broker knows (or doesn’t). It will expose whether they work for you — or for the system that’s been profiting off your silence.
Remember: your health plan is a massive line item on your P&L. You wouldn’t accept “just trust us” from a vendor managing your payroll, technology, or marketing budget. Why accept it here?
✅ Next Steps
- Main Takeaway: Asking the right questions — and understanding your group’s specific insurance profile — exposes misaligned incentives and puts you back in control.
- Ask Yourself: Have you ever been shown a full menu of funding options based on your employee count, structure, and claims experience? Or are you stuck in a one-size-fits-all trap?
- Imagine This: What if your health plan truly matched your business’s needs — saving money and delivering better care — because you finally knew what to ask?
📲 Want to know what else to ask — and how to act on the answers? Let’s talk. I’ll walk you through a simple PLAN to regain control and cut unnecessary spend without cutting benefits.
Questions? Contact the author at lcbernardi@britepathbenefits.com
Schedule a call at calendly.com/lcbernardi
Visit our website at www.britepathbenefits.com