Small employers should make a free annual review of their benefits setup a standard part of their yearly routine, according to John Zabasky, CEO of WorXsiteHR Insurance Solutions, Inc. The review examines how the plan is being used, where workers encounter friction, and whether the employer is still getting a fair deal on cost. Zabasky frames this as a standing habit rather than a one-time favor, recommending employers schedule the review automatically each year instead of waiting for something to go wrong.
“Most employers only look hard at their benefits when something breaks,” Zabasky said. “I want employers checking in every year, on purpose, whether anything is wrong or not.” The checkup is described as a plain look at how a plan is working, not a pitch for a new one. It should walk through enrollment numbers, claims patterns, and worker feedback directly with the employer.
Zabasky said the idea grew out of his work with lower income, part-time, and seasonal workforces through the HealthWorX Plan, where WorXsiteHR is the exclusive third-party administrator. “With seasonal and part-time workforces, things change fast,” he said. “Turnover changes. Hours change. A plan that fit in January can be a bad fit by September, and nobody notices until renewal.”
A good annual checkup gives employers three things: a plain-language summary of how the plan performed, a short list of any changes worth making, and a direct answer on whether costs are still in line with what similar employers are paying. The goal is to catch small problems before they become renewal-time surprises. “I would rather flag a problem in June than have an employer find out at renewal that their workers stopped using the plan months ago,” Zabasky said.
HealthWorX is a no-cost medical plan, subsidized by a non-profit, built to give lower income, part-time, and seasonal workers access to healthcare they can actually use. WorXsiteHR administers the plan for employers who want it. Zabasky said an annual checkup habit is one way employers can make sure that access does not quietly erode over time. “A benefit only works if people use it,” he said. “A checkup is how you make sure that stays true year after year, not just in the first year.”
Employers do not need a complicated process to get value out of an annual review, according to Zabasky. He recommends keeping the format simple: a short meeting, a plain summary, and a small number of recommendations an employer can act on right away. “You are not trying to hand someone a hundred-page report,” he said. “You want them to walk away knowing three things: what is working, what is not, and what to do about it.”
The recommendation carries implications for small employers, particularly those with seasonal and part-time staff, who may face shifting enrollment and utilization patterns throughout the year. By formalizing an annual review, employers could identify declining plan usage or cost inefficiencies earlier, potentially avoiding rushed decisions at renewal. For the broader health benefits industry, the emphasis on routine, low-cost checkups underscores a shift toward proactive plan management rather than reactive purchasing, which could influence how administrators and brokers structure their offerings for smaller workforces.
Zabasky started WorXsiteHR in 2013 as the exclusive third-party administrator for the HealthWorX Plan. He holds a BA and an MA in History from UMBC, an MBA from Pepperdine, and a PhD in Information Systems from Concordia, and is currently a PhD candidate in Health Sciences at Liberty University.
