Same employer. Same team. Two ledgers — and a different number at the bottom.
This is a story about a number. A small one. Twenty dollars. And how — in the quiet unraveling of how America insures its small businesses — twenty dollars became the line between staying stuck and breaking free.
On September first, your plan renews. About $9,469 a month becomes $11,210. That's about $1,740 more — every month — for the exact same coverage. Same doctors. Same network. Same care. The benefits don't get better. Only the price goes up.
Here's the part nobody says out loud. The problem isn't the price. The price is the symptom. Ninety-six out of one hundred people can't define the four words that decide what they actually pay: deductible, copay, coinsurance, out-of-pocket max. A confused owner renews "same as last year" and keeps overpaying — quietly, on autopilot, forever. The confusion is the product. They call it choice. It's really paralysis.
No spin.
Same headcount. Same team. Two ledgers.
You have two honest roads. Both are real. You don't have to love either one today — that's normal. I'll walk you through it until it's easy.
Match what most employers do — cover about 85% of the cost, bring the team's share back in line. Keep your plan. No structural change.
Same fairness for your people. Lower total cost for the company — $11,210 down to about $8,300/mo. Money in the plan rolls over to your employees. This is the one I'd put my name on.
The system wanted you confused. Paralyzed. Overpaying on autopilot. Instead, you're going to make a decision — with your eyes open. Because in the great resignation of the small employer, the ones who win aren't the ones with the deepest pockets. They're the ones who simply stopped standing still.
$20.
That's the whole decision.
Pick a road, or grab thirty minutes with me. I've got you.