Renewal season, 2027 plan year
Your health insurance renewal came in high. Here’s what you can get back without touching your plan.
You keep your plan. You get back up to $640 a year for every employee who enrolls, out of payroll tax you’re overpaying today. Put the payroll tax you get back against the renewal increase. Type your headcount and your renewal increase below to see what you’d get back.
01 · What you get back
Get part of your increase back.
Type your headcount and the percent your renewal went up. If you know what the plan costs you each month, add the monthly cost too, and you’ll see how much of the renewal increase the payroll tax offsets.
A company with 50 employees can get back up to $32,000 a year, if all 50 enroll.
The question
How do I offset a health insurance renewal increase without changing my group plan?
You keep your plan and add SIMERP, a self-insured medical expense reimbursement plan your own company sponsors. SIMERP redirects payroll tax you already spend into real medical care for your team, and your business gets back up to $640 for every employee who enrolls, every year. Your broker, carrier and coverage stay as they are.
02 · The usual renewal advice
Every option except SIMERP changes your plan.
We read the first ten articles that come up when you search for what to do about a renewal increase, and not one mentions payroll tax. Every move the articles suggest changes your plan or your people’s paychecks.
The question
What about switching to an ICHRA, going level-funded, or joining a PEO?
An ICHRA, level funding and a PEO can each lower the renewal number, and each one changes your plan or your employees' paychecks: an ICHRA ends the group plan, level funding puts claims risk on you, and a PEO moves payroll and your health plan into someone else's pool. SIMERP sits next to the group plan you already have.
| The move | What changes |
|---|---|
| Shop the market | A new carrier, new networks, and employees who notice the new network on day one. |
| Switch to an ICHRA | The group plan goes away and everyone buys their own coverage. |
| Go level-funded | You take on claims risk you didn't carry before. |
| Join a PEO | You hand payroll and your health plan to somebody else's pool. |
| Raise the deductible | Your people pay more before the plan pays anything. |
| Shift more of the premium to employees | Paychecks shrink, and fewer people enroll. |
| Keep the plan and recover payroll tax | Nothing about your plan changes. You get back up to $640 per enrolled employee every year, and your people get care with no copay. |
If one of the six moves is on your desk, we compared all six side by side on one page: Should I switch to an ICHRA, go level-funded, or join a PEO when my renewal goes up?
03 · Your people's families
Employees and their families get medical care.
Each enrolled employee, plus their family, gets access to convenient medical care, with no copay, no deductible and no fee for service.
The question
What do my employees actually get with SIMERP?
Every enrolled employee, plus up to 6 legal dependents, gets urgent care around the clock, primary care within days, mental health support from licensed clinicians, over 1,000 medications at no cost, and physician-supervised weight health, with no copay, deductible or fee. What employees pay into SIMERP comes out before tax, so employees pay less tax and take home more.
04 · How fast you start
Start now, before your new rate hits.
Launch takes 30 to 60 days, and your HR team spends under 5 hours on the launch. A company that starts in September has its first savings on a payroll before the new rate kicks in.
The question
Does a Section 125 plan help with a health insurance renewal increase?
Yes, a Section 125 plan offsets part of the increase. Your people set aside part of their pay before tax, and you don't pay FICA on that part. SIMERP, a self-insured medical expense reimbursement plan your company sponsors, adds real medical care to the Section 125 plan, and your business gets back up to $640 per enrolled employee per year.
- 01
Find out what your company qualifies for
Start with the Savings Assessment, a short form that takes about a minute. Then, on a call that takes about 20 minutes, we walk you through the whole program and see if SIMERP is a good fit for your company.
- 02
Your exact payroll tax savings
We build your exact number from your payroll, line by line, and walk you through the number on a follow-up call. There's no cost and no obligation.
- 03
Launch in 30 to 60 days
We prepare the plan documents, hand your payroll company the exact codes to enter, and sign your employees up. The first savings show up on the next payroll.
SIMERP pays for itself out of payroll tax you’re overpaying today, and sits next to the health plan you already have.
Where the outside numbers come from
For more 2027 premium numbers, read How much are small-group health insurance premiums going up for 2027?
- 14%: the midpoint, KFF's median, of the premium increases insurers requested for 2027 in the small-group market (companies under 50 employees). KFF analysis of preliminary rate filings, reported by Healthcare Dive, August 7, 2026. Source
- 8.2%: the rise employers expect in health benefit cost per employee for 2027, the biggest increase since 2003. Mercer, Survey on Health and Benefit Strategies for 2027, August 31, 2026. Source
See what you get back, then decide.
The Savings Assessment takes about a minute, and you'll find out what your company qualifies for. Nothing about your plan changes.