We sit down with Dan Kueter, CEO of UnitedHealthcare’s commercial business, to unpack small-group cost pressures and explore how employers can counter trend with level funding and more transparent, tech-enabled benefits plan design. UnitedHealthcare’s Surest health plan offers a clear path to lower costs and a better consumer experience. In this episode, Dan gives a deep dive on how Surest is built around more than 1 million variable value-based copays that vary based on a provider’s historical performance, upfront pricing, and smart digital nudges.

We also cover today’s top trend drivers, including specialty drugs, GLP-1s, cell and gene therapy, and behavioral health. Dan breaks down how to choose between level funding and adjusted community rating and more detail about how Surest can help lower costs for employers and members alike.

You’ll also hear why digital engagement is key to real results, plus insights on broker education, rollout best practices, and how to partner with UnitedHealthcare for ongoing feedback and product refinement. Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss upcoming episodes of the CRC BeneFit Check Podcast, where CRC Benefits delivers real insight, practical strategies, and smarter solutions to help you lead your clients with confidence.

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Payroll tangles, patchwork compliance, and vendor sprawl can quietly drain a growing company. We sit down with CRC’s PEO leaders, Rob Schlossberg and Ari Wind, to map out when a professional employer organization unlocks simpler operations, stronger benefits, and fewer risks—and when it doesn’t. If your clients have multi-state teams, rising admin load, or employees asking for richer plans like IVF and modern voluntary benefits, this is a practical guide to the trade-offs that matter.

We break down what a PEO really delivers: integrated payroll, HR, workers’ comp, and compliance inside a single tech platform that cleans up onboarding, recordkeeping, and reporting. Rob and Ari explain why interest has surged, how to spot genuine fit signals across industries like private equity, nonprofits, logistics, and tech, and the common red flags that suggest the open market might be smarter. You’ll also learn how to protect clients with CPEO status and ESAC accreditation—critical safeguards that prevent tax restarts, ensure financial oversight, and backstop payroll and benefits through surety bonding.

What truly differentiates our approach is process. We start with a focused discovery call, run a consolidated RFP that works across multiple PEOs, guide demos and implementation, and deliver renewal strategies 90 days in advance. That solution-agnostic stance means we recommend PEO, open market, or hybrid based on real needs, not hype—sometimes even talking clients out of a PEO when it won’t serve them. As the market consolidates and matures, brokers who claim the PEO conversation early protect their relationships and win more often.

Ready to sharpen your edge? Listen now, subscribe for future conversations, and leave a review telling us your biggest PEO question or success story.

If the phrase one-size-fits-all makes you wince, this conversation will feel like a breath of fresh air. We sit down with Patti Reimer to unpack how Individual Coverage HRAs (ICHRAs) turn rigid group plans into flexible, budget-friendly benefits that employees actually want to use. Instead of forcing everyone into the same carrier and network, ICHRAs let employers set a defined contribution while employees choose plans that match their doctors, hospitals, and prescriptions no matter where they live.

Brokers will find a clear playbook here. With nearly half of employers still unaware of ICHRAs, there’s a real first-mover advantage for those who lead the conversation. We share how CRC Benefits equips brokers with quoting support, ICHRA handbooks, presentation decks, and open office hours through Q4, making it simpler to consult, compare, and implement. We also look ahead to what’s next: tighter tech integration, smarter plan recommendations, and expansion into dental, vision, telehealth, and EAPs that round out a modern, portable benefits stack.

Ready to rethink benefits with flexibility, choice, and control? Press play, then subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a colleague who needs a smarter way to offer health coverage.