Care redirection
Move routine care toward lower-cost virtual pathways before it becomes claims activity.
Fiduciary Cost Containment
Document A Better Strategy For Managing Health Plan Spend.
HBS gives plan sponsors a measurable virtual care program that supports cost containment, member access, and ongoing plan stewardship.
Plan Stewardship
Benefits leaders need visible, documentable cost controls.
Self-funded and level-funded employers are expected to manage plan assets prudently and evaluate strategies that can reduce unnecessary spend while supporting plan participants.
Health Benefit Strategies helps plan sponsors put a practical cost-containment program in place. The HBS platform sits outside the health plan and redirects routine care toward virtual primary care, urgent care, mental health, pharmacy, and weight health benefits.
This page is general business information, not legal advice. Employers should consult their benefits, legal, and compliance advisors for plan-specific fiduciary guidance.
Practical Controls
Cost containment that members can actually use.
Member access
Give employees a direct route to care, mental health support, and pharmacy resources.
Reporting
Use engagement and utilization data to support ongoing plan review and decision-making.
The Fiduciary Landscape
Prudence is judged by process — and process is proven by documentation.
ERISA requires plan fiduciaries to act prudently, act solely in the interest of participants, and pay only reasonable plan expenses. Sponsors who breach those duties can be held personally liable for resulting plan losses.
Two forces have raised the stakes. The Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) strengthened transparency obligations — compensation disclosures from brokers and consultants, gag-clause prohibitions that guarantee access to claims data — making “we didn't know what the plan was spending” harder to sustain. And a wave of high-profile lawsuits has targeted employers over prescription and health plan costs, arguing sponsors failed to manage spending that participants ultimately share.
Courts evaluating fiduciary conduct look at process, not just outcomes: Did the sponsor evaluate options? Did it act on cost information? Can it show its work? A documented cost-containment program — evaluated, implemented, and reviewed with reporting — is exactly the kind of evidence that answers those questions.
This page is general business information, not legal advice. Review your obligations with ERISA counsel.
Common Questions
Fiduciary cost-containment FAQ.
Can plan sponsors really be held personally liable under ERISA?
Yes. ERISA fiduciaries can be held personally liable to restore plan losses that result from a breach of their duties, which include acting prudently and paying only reasonable plan expenses. This is general business information, not legal advice — consult your ERISA counsel about your specific obligations.
How does HBS help demonstrate fiduciary prudence?
Prudence is judged by process, and process is proven by documentation. HBS gives plan sponsors a documented cost-containment program: a written program design, utilization reporting that shows redirected care, and measurable savings your committee can review and record in its minutes.
Does adding HBS create new fiduciary risk?
The HBS platform sits outside the health plan and doesn't change plan assets, plan design, or existing vendor contracts. As with any benefits decision, sponsors should review the program with their legal and benefits advisors — HBS provides full documentation to support that review.
What is the CAA and why does it matter here?
The Consolidated Appropriations Act strengthened transparency obligations for group health plans, including compensation disclosure from brokers and consultants and gag-clause prohibitions on claims data. Together these raise the expectation that plan sponsors actively understand and manage what their plans spend.
What documentation does HBS provide?
Employers receive the SIMERP plan documentation for advisor review before launch, plus ongoing utilization and engagement reporting that quantifies redirected care and program savings for fiduciary committee review.
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Related Resources
Connect fiduciary stewardship to plan design.
Explore how HBS applies across self-funded employers, level-funded plans, virtual primary care, and broker partnerships.
Ready to document a stronger cost-containment strategy?
Schedule a discovery call to see how HBS can support your health plan stewardship goals.