Plan economics
Understand what is driving spend before deciding what to change.
Employer Benefits IQ
Practical intelligence for better health-plan decisions.
A growing library for employers, finance leaders and HR teams who need to evaluate healthcare with clearer questions, stronger evidence and a year-round management mindset.
Prepared by Corry Hull, REBC, CSFS, author of The High Performance Health Plan and founder of Employer Benefits IQ.
Browse by decision area
Purchasing & contracts
Replace discount-based assumptions with terms, incentives and accountability you can actually evaluate.
Care strategy
Connect plan design to the care pathways employees use at the moment of need.
Leadership & governance
Give health-plan decisions the ownership, cadence and evidence they deserve.
Field notes
Start with a better question.
01
Score-to-Roadmap leadership brief
Three questions to ask after a Health Plan Score
A concise executive brief for turning the lowest Health Plan Score results into a disciplined sequence of decisions.
02
Score-to-Roadmap action guide
Common Health Plan Score priorities
A shareable executive guide to the five recurring Health Plan Score priorities and the Roadmap actions that turn them into disciplined work.
03
Pharmacy & specialty-drug management
Why pharmacy deserves a year-round management strategy
A shareable guide for employers whose Health Plan Score points to pharmacy as a priority—and the Roadmap decisions that create stronger control.
04
High-cost care & clinical strategy
A high-cost claim is a care-pathway decision
A shareable guide for employers whose Health Plan Score highlights high-cost care—and the Roadmap actions that turn reactive claims into a deliberate clinical strategy.
05
Data, analytics & transparency
Turn plan transparency into a 90-day leadership decision
A shareable guide for employers whose Health Plan Score identifies transparency as a priority—and the first Roadmap action that puts better evidence in front of leadership.
06
Plan financing & risk strategy
Make plan financing a deliberate risk decision
A shareable guide for employers whose Health Plan Score identifies financing and risk strategy as a priority—and the Roadmap actions that establish a stronger foundation.
07
Medical network & provider economics
Measure network value before changing the network
A shareable guide for employers whose Health Plan Score identifies medical network economics as a priority—and the Roadmap action that turns discount assumptions into evidence-based purchasing.
08
Stop-loss & catastrophic risk
Treat catastrophic risk as a plan-management decision
A shareable guide for employers whose Health Plan Score identifies catastrophic risk as a priority—and the Roadmap actions that make protection, reporting and leadership oversight more deliberate.
09
Primary care & early intervention
Build primary care into the plan’s first line of strategy
A shareable guide for employers whose Health Plan Score identifies primary care and early intervention as a priority—and the Roadmap actions that make better access a deliberate strategy.
10
Navigation & employee experience
Make navigation a care decision, not a member perk
A shareable guide for employers whose Health Plan Score identifies navigation and employee experience as a priority—and the Roadmap actions that help people reach the right care sooner.
11
Leadership & governance
The renewal is a decision point—not a strategy
Annual renewal activity can be necessary, but it is not a substitute for year-round management of cost, quality, access and accountability.
12
Plan economics
What plan transparency actually makes possible
Transparency is useful only when it equips leaders to ask better questions about prices, utilization, contracts and incentives.
13
Purchasing & contracts
Discounts do not equal value
A network discount can sound persuasive while obscuring the underlying provider price, patient access and quality of care.
14
Care strategy
Navigation is part of the health-plan design
Employees cannot use a better health plan if they cannot understand it or find high-value care when they need it.
15
Score-to-Roadmap leadership brief
From Score priority to Roadmap action: the 90-day leadership brief
A shareable 90-day brief for turning a lowest-scoring Health Plan Score component into an owned leadership decision and an actionable Roadmap sequence.
Plain-language glossary
Terms worth knowing.
- Plan sponsor
- The employer or organization responsible for establishing and overseeing the health plan.
- Fiduciary governance
- A documented approach to making, recording and monitoring plan decisions with the interests of plan participants in view.
- Total cost of care
- The full cost associated with delivering care, considered alongside quality, access and the employee experience—not simply the premium or a discount.
- Stop-loss
- Insurance that helps limit exposure to unusually high claims in a self-funded or partially self-funded health plan.
- PBM
- Pharmacy benefit manager: a company that administers pharmacy benefits and related purchasing arrangements.
- Care navigation
- Support that helps employees understand benefits and identify appropriate, high-value care options.
Frequently asked questions
A clearer place to begin.
Who is Employer Benefits IQ for?+
It is designed for employer leaders, finance teams, HR professionals and benefits decision-makers who want a more practical way to understand and manage healthcare.
Does this library replace legal, clinical or financial advice?+
No. The material is educational and intended to improve the questions employers ask. Organizations should engage appropriate professional advisors for decisions requiring specialized advice.
Where should we start if our plan feels reactive?+
Begin with the Health Plan Score. It provides a directional baseline across ten connected components and points to the management disciplines that deserve attention first.
How does the library connect to the book?+
The book provides the core management philosophy. The Framework, Score and Employer Benefits IQ resources translate that philosophy into practical decision paths.