The five phases.
Each phase answers one question about your plan. They run in order, because each one depends on what the one before it found.
| Phase | The question it answers | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Risk Reality | What does the plan cost, and where does the risk sit? | Cost trend, stop-loss exposure, contract terms, and who is paid what |
| 2. Anatomy of a Plan | Who touches the plan, and what does each of them charge? | Every vendor, every fee and every hand-off, on one page |
| 3. Invisible Invoice | What is the plan paying that nobody shows you? | Compensation and pricing spread across your vendors, quantified and sourced |
| 4. Ground Truth | What is really happening in the claims? | Claims and pharmacy data read directly, not from a carrier summary |
| 5. Fiduciary Framework™ | Where should the plan go, and how will you prove it was run well? | A committee, a charter, a three to five year plan, benchmarks and minutes |
The Fiduciary Framework™ is where the method ends and the year-round work begins.
From first call to kickoff.
- Strategic Analysis. Your broker agreement and plan documents first, then the plan itself. Request one.
- Analysis. The five phases above, presented to your leadership as the situation, the complication and the options.
- Alignment. Your committee weighs the options with the full picture and decides. Each decision is recorded with the reasoning behind it.
- Kickoff. Final plan decisions, contributions, eligibility and the open enrollment plan, in one signed kickoff document before enrollment starts.
Your team, by name.
| Role | What they own |
|---|---|
| Benefits consultant | Strategy, contracts, your benefits business plan, and escalations |
| Account executive | Onboarding, your Ethos Experience calls, claims reviews, communication strategy, and technology |
| Account manager | Your employees’ questions, eligibility, claims support and help finding care |
| Compliance specialist | Your fiduciary committee, your compliance calendar and every annual compliance item |
| Technology specialist | Benefits administration setup, audits of plan builds, and carrier and payroll file feeds |
| HR consultants | HR questions, handbooks and documents |
The people on your account are named in your agreement, so you always know who is responsible for what.
How the year runs.
- Every week or every other week: an Ethos Experience call with your service team.
- Every month: a claims review, including large claims and what is being done about them.
- Every quarter: a committee meeting under the Fiduciary Framework™, with one-page minutes filed in your record.
- Every renewal: options marketed and compared side by side, decided by your committee, and documented.
- Every open enrollment: employee communications written and scheduled for you, with your approval.
Where it all lives.
Every document, decision, deadline and request is kept in the Ethos Fiduciary OS, so your committee can see the plan’s record at any time, not just at renewal.