Employee Benefits
We advise growing businesses on group health, dental, and vision — structured for retention, designed around how the business actually runs, and coordinated with the rest of your risk and legacy plan.
For a business with 5 to 500 employees, the benefits package is often the second-largest line item after payroll — and the one most quietly on autopilot. Renewed without scrutiny, structured around the carrier's defaults, and disconnected from how the company has grown. Rexford approaches benefits the same way we approach the rest of our work. Education first. A real audit of what you have. Then a structure that reflects the business you're running today.
From small teams placing their first benefits plan to growing companies whose off-the-shelf small-group plan no longer fits. We meet you where you are — without the enterprise broker treating you like a number, and without the small-business broker leaving compliance on autopilot.
Law firms, financial advisory shops, medical and dental practices, consulting groups. Higher-earning teams expect serious coverage. The plan has to match the people.
Practices and groups where your team understands healthcare better than most. The benefits plan has to stand up to scrutiny — and so does the broker who placed it.
Operating entities under a family office or holding company — where benefits decisions need to coordinate across multiple businesses and ownership structures.
Most benefits programs aren't broken on paper. They're broken in execution. These are the three gaps we surface most often when we sit down with a new client.
Gap 01
The plan was placed years ago. The business has doubled. The carrier sends a 12% increase and a one-page summary. Nobody marketed it, nobody negotiated, nobody asked whether the plan still fits.
Gap 02
The plan looks affordable until employees find out their specialist or nearest hospital is out-of-network. Claims get processed as out-of-network. Out-of-pocket costs surprise everyone.
Gap 03
ACA reporting, ERISA plan documents, Section 125 cafeteria plans, COBRA, state mandates. As headcount grows, obligations stack — and most small-business brokers don't track them.
Group health is the foundation of any benefits package — and the place where the largest dollars and the largest risks live. We structure plans that work for the company and the people inside it, with carriers and networks that match how and where your team actually receives care.
What we structure: PPO, HMO, EPO, and high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) paired with HSAs. Self-funded and level-funded options for the right groups. Multi-carrier strategies where geography or specialty access matters. Plan tiers so employees can match coverage to their family situation without the business overpaying.
What we audit: The renewal you're about to sign. Network adequacy for where your team actually lives. Out-of-pocket exposure for high-utilization employees. Carrier reputation on claims handling. Whether your contributions still reflect your compensation philosophy. ACA, ERISA, and state-mandate compliance for the size you've grown into.
Dental and vision are often treated as afterthoughts on the benefits summary. They shouldn't be. These are the coverages employees and their families use most consistently — and the place where a thoughtful plan design costs the business very little but pays back substantially in perceived value.
Dental: PPO and DHMO networks structured around preventive, basic, and major services. Orthodontia coverage for employees with families. Annual maximums calibrated to your team — not the default $1,500 that hasn't moved in twenty years. Voluntary buy-up tiers for employees who want richer coverage on their own dime.
Vision: Exam, lens, and frame allowances built around real costs in California, not 2010 dollars. Coverage for contact lenses and progressive lenses. LASIK discount programs where carriers offer them. Coordination with FSA and HSA elections so employees get the full value of the benefit.
Workers' Compensation and Employment Practices Liability sit at the intersection of employee benefits and commercial insurance — coverages every employer needs, but most don't think about until a claim lands. Rexford coordinates them alongside the benefits program so the workforce is protected coming and going.
Workers' Compensation: California carries some of the highest workers' comp costs in the country. We structure programs around class code accuracy, experience modifier improvement, return-to-work strategies, and pay-as-you-go billing where it makes sense. For high-exposure industries — healthcare, senior living, construction, hospitality — we work with specialty markets that actually understand the risk.
Employment Practices Liability (EPLI): Wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage-and-hour claims are among the fastest-growing exposures for middle-market employers — especially in California, where FEHA and Labor Code claims drive disproportionate verdicts. EPLI covers defense costs, settlements, and judgments, and pairs with the HR practices that prevent claims in the first place.
The benefits package is one of the most-leveraged tools a growing business has for attracting and keeping the people who drive the company. The math is rarely run that way. Most owners look at benefits as a line item to manage, not a line item to deploy.
The Real Cost of Turnover
6–9 months
of an employee's annual salary is the typical cost to replace them when factoring in recruiting, onboarding, lost productivity, and ramp time. For a key hire, the number runs higher. A benefits package that actually serves your people is one of the cheapest retention tools you have.
We model contribution strategy against compensation philosophy. Employer/employee split, tier structure, dependent coverage, HSA seed contributions — designed so the dollars you spend actually land where you want them to land.
Most benefits brokers are paid to renew. We continue to advise throughout the year — supported by our proprietary Human Resource management tool — so the program gets reviewed, questioned, and adjusted long before next year's renewal.
We start with a complimentary benefits audit. No obligation, no pitch — a fresh set of eyes on what you have today. We review the plan documents, the network, the contribution structure, the compliance posture, and the renewal trajectory. We tell you what's working, what isn't, and what we'd recommend changing. If you decide to move the program to Rexford, we run it the same way we run the rest of our work: proactively, coordinated with your other advisors, and reviewed against the business you're running today.
Employee benefits don't sit in a silo at Rexford. Workers' comp, EPLI, group life, group disability, key executive coverage, and buy-sell structures are coordinated alongside the benefits program — so the principals and the employees are both protected, and nothing falls between chairs.
No obligation. A fresh set of eyes on what you have — and where the gaps are.
Request Your Complimentary Audit →The content on this page reflects the opinions and perspectives of Rexford Insurance Solutions and is intended for general informational purposes only. Nothing on this page constitutes legal, tax, financial, or investment advice. Employee benefits plans and insurance needs vary by individual and business circumstance and jurisdiction. You should consult a licensed attorney, tax advisor, or benefits professional before making decisions based on the information presented here. Rexford Insurance Solutions is licensed in California (Lic. 6017874).