Title: Employee Benefits Strategy Consulting Source: https://ethosbenefits.com/services/benefits-strategy Publisher: Ethos Benefits Summary: Ethos Benefits builds a three to five year strategy for your health and welfare plans: goals, plan design, vendor direction and targets your committee tracks. 1. [Home](https://ethosbenefits.com/) 2. [Services](https://ethosbenefits.com/services) 3. Benefits strategy. # Benefits strategy. A three to five year plan for your benefits. Your benefits are likely one of your company's largest costs, and most plans are run one renewal at a time. Ethos Benefits builds a three to five year strategy with your leadership: what the plan must do for your people and your budget, the plan design and vendor direction to get there, and targets your committee reviews every quarter. [Request a Strategic Analysis](https://ethosbenefits.com/strategic-analysis) ## What you get. Most benefits decisions are made under deadline, at renewal, with whatever options arrive. A strategy decides the direction first, so each renewal moves the plan toward it. 1. **The Ethos Method** Five phases that take your plan apart before anything is changed: Risk Reality, Anatomy of a Plan, Invisible Invoice, Ground Truth and the Fiduciary Framework™. 2. **Goals for the plan** What the plan has to do for your people and for your budget, agreed by your leadership and committee. 3. **Plan design** Coverage, cost sharing and contributions designed for your workforce, tested against benchmarks and modeled before they change. 4. **Vendor and structure direction** Which parts of the plan to keep, renegotiate, unbundle or replace over the next three to five years. 5. **Targets and quarterly reviews** KPIs and targets your committee tracks every quarter under the Fiduciary Framework™. ## What the strategy _covers._ - **The plan’s purpose:** what it must do to attract and keep your people, and what it can cost. - **Plan design:** coverage, cost sharing and contributions by employee group. - **Structure:** fully insured, level-funded or self-funded, and bundled or unbundled vendors. - **Vendors:** which to keep, renegotiate or replace, and when. - **Cost drivers:** what [claims analytics](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/claims-analytics) shows is driving cost, and what to do about it. ## How it is _built._ Every strategy starts with [the Ethos Method](https://ethosbenefits.com/how-we-work): five phases that teach your team about your own plan before anything changes. The result becomes the three to five year plan in your [Fiduciary Framework™](https://ethosbenefits.com/fiduciary-framework). ## Part of your Fiduciary Framework™. Every Ethos service reports to your benefits committee. The work is reviewed at your quarterly committee meeting, each decision is recorded with the reasoning behind it, and the record lives in your Ethos Fiduciary OS. That is what lets your committee show the plan was run prudently. [See the Fiduciary Framework™](https://ethosbenefits.com/fiduciary-framework) · [How fiduciary governance works](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/fiduciary-governance) ## Related reading. - [**The employee benefits strategy** Benefits 101: What an employee benefits strategy is, the data it is built on, how to build a three to five year plan with a committee, and how to measure it.](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/employee-benefits-strategy) - [**Self funded vs. fully insured** Benefits 101: Self-funded vs. fully insured health plans, plus level funding and reference-based pricing, compared on risk, cash flow, data, state law and filings.](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/self-funded-vs-fully-insured) - [**Employee benefits trends for 2027** Insight: The employee benefits trends that will shape 2027 health plan decisions, from premium growth and GLP-1 costs to PBM reform, parity and price transparency.](https://ethosbenefits.com/insights/employee-benefits-trends) - [**A CFO's fiduciary playbook** Insight: A health plan fiduciary playbook for CFOs. What to measure, what to ask your advisor and vendors, and how a committee and a 3 to 5 year plan fit in.](https://ethosbenefits.com/insights/cfo-fiduciary-playbook) [Browse everything in Learn](https://ethosbenefits.com/learn) ## Questions employers ask about this. How is this different from a renewal? A renewal is one decision about next year. A strategy is the multi-year direction each renewal is measured against, with goals and targets that carry from year to year. Who is involved? Your leadership sets the goals, your benefits committee owns the plan and reviews progress, and Ethos builds it, reports against it and keeps the record. How long does it take to build? The strategy comes out of the five phases of the Ethos Method and is finalized with your committee. It is then reviewed every quarter and updated at each renewal. ## Keep reading Related to this page. - [**Renewals and marketing** Ethos Benefits starts your health plan renewal at least six months early, markets it to carriers and vendors, and puts every option in front of your committee. _Read more_](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/renewals) - [**Cost containment** Ethos Benefits evaluates and contracts cost containment for your plan: reference-based pricing, direct contracts, direct primary care and pharmacy programs. _Read more_](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/cost-containment) - [**Benchmarking and modeling** Ethos Benefits benchmarks your plan design and contributions against similar employers and models the cost and affordability of every change before you make it. _Read more_](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/benchmarking) - [**Mergers and acquisitions** Ethos Benefits reviews employee benefits and health plan risk in mergers and acquisitions, and plans the integration so employees keep coverage on day one. _Read more_](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/mergers-and-acquisitions) - [**PEO evaluation** Ethos Benefits helps employers decide whether to join, stay in or leave a PEO for benefits by comparing the full cost and control against a plan of your own. _Read more_](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/peo-evaluation) - [**Global benefits** Ethos Benefits helps U.S. employers with employees abroad review international benefits, compare them with local practice and govern them with the U.S. plan. _Read more_](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/global-benefits) ## See what your plan is really costing you. A Strategic Analysis starts with your plan documents and your broker agreement, then shows you what your plan costs, where the risk sits, and what a committee would decide with the full picture. [Request a Strategic Analysis](https://ethosbenefits.com/strategic-analysis) [Call (407) 803-4710](tel:+14078034710)