When evaluating your group benefits plan, you probably focus on coverage details, premium costs, and whether your team is satisfied. But the real story lies beneath the surface — in the structure of the plan itself. If your renewal reports look eerily similar year after year, and premiums keep creeping upward, you’re not alone.
The truth is, many employee benefits plans are needlessly complex. Behind the scenes, a tangled web of brokers, underwriters, consultants, and third-party administrators all take their cut — and you’re the one footing the bill.
“Most companies don’t realize they’re overpaying until it’s too late — the group benefits industry thrives on that lack of transparency.”
Why Your Premiums Keep Rising
If you’ve switched brokers multiple times only to receive the same templated renewal reports, it’s not coincidence — it’s industry design. Most traditional group insurance plans are built to benefit intermediaries, not your business or your employees.
With each renewal cycle, your plan passes through multiple hands. By the time a proposal reaches your desk, it’s been touched, marked up, and repackaged by a chain of players, each extracting fees or commissions.
A 2022 Fraser Institute study shows administrative overhead can be a major cost driver in Canadian health systems — a trend mirrored in many private group benefits setups.
The outcome? A bloated pricing structure where minimal effort is spent on true value, like optimizing coverage or negotiating competitive rates.
The Illusion of Complexity
The employee group benefits industry has created the illusion of complexity. You’re told it’s insurance — something robust, critical, and highly specialized. But in reality, most plans function as glorified reimbursement services for routine expenses.
And while brokers might justify their fees with thick binders, pie charts, and spreadsheets, the core service hasn’t changed. You’re paying top dollar for a system designed to confuse, not clarify.
Benefits Canada frequently highlights how traditional plan models are failing to evolve with the needs of small and medium-sized businesses.
Why Traditional Brokers Fall Short
Imagine this: your broker earns $1,200 a year on your $1,000/month plan. Are they incentivized to explore multiple carriers, challenge underwriters, and push for better rates?
Unlikely.
Instead, they often outsource the heavy lifting to third parties, introducing yet another layer (and cost) to your plan. It’s not necessarily malicious — it’s just how the system operates. But that system prioritizes profit over performance.
“If your benefits plan is being handed off three times before it reaches you, it’s not being built for efficiency — it’s being built for profit”
A Better Way to Approach Group Benefits
At Kibono, we believe in transparency, efficiency, and real value. We see a group health plan not as an insurance maze, but as a simple financial tool: reimbursements and predictable expenses.
So, why treat it like rocket science?
You don’t need a dozen middlemen to manage your employee benefits. You need a plan that’s clean, cost-effective, and built with your people in mind — not the commission structure of your broker.
Take Back Control of Your Plan
If you’re currently locked into a traditional group employee benefits plan, it’s not too late. The first step is understanding how the system works. The second is choosing to do something different.
Kibono is here to help you untangle the mess, reduce unnecessary fees, and finally align your benefits with your business goals.
Ready to simplify your group benefits plan?
Let’s talk — no binders, no spreadsheets, just honest advice from Kibono.
