Healthcare costs are on the rise. You need PEO renewal rates you can trust.

After wages, benefits are the second-highest employee-related cost — and they’re continuing to rise. Costs for employer coverage are expected to rise about 9.5% in 2026, according to Aon. Rising costs are compounded in the small group market, where ACA Marketplace insurers are raising premiums by about 20% on average.

Businesses keen on controlling benefits spend can use a Professional Employer Organization (PEO) to improve access to affordable, competitive healthcare plans. But there’s a problem: the rate you sign up for the day you join a PEO doesn’t always tell the whole story. PEOs can jack up renewal rates after the first year, creating bloated, unexpected costs. Or you’re faced with the time-consuming hassle of finding a new PEO after just a year.

To avoid these pitfalls, you need to assess how your benefit rates will evolve over time. Here’s how to evaluate your PEO options — including Rippling PEO, which has consistently delivered transparent renewal rates below market averages since its inception.

Evaluating your PEO options

If you want more predictable, transparent renewals, you need to evaluate your PEO options. When weighing whether to break up with your current solution (or how to find one in the first place), here’s what you should keep in mind:

• Does the PEO publicize its annual benefit renewal rate increases? Transparency over how PEO benefit pricing has changed in the past helps companies better predict how their rates may evolve in the future.

• What is the pricing structure? PEO pricing should be transparent. If your solution comes with hidden PEO fees and extra costs associated with supplemental services, you may want to search for other options.

• Does it offer modern, easy-to-use software? When you join a PEO, you aren’t just getting its benefits plans. You also have to use its software, which, for many systems, is a relic built in the 1990s. HR admins rely on the PEO’s software to manage their workforce, and employees use it to access pay stubs, tax forms, and other important documents. So look for modernized solutions that are intuitively designed and easy to set up. If you want a test run to see for yourself, ask for a product demo before committing.

• Can it support your company as it grows and your needs change? Your PEO needs will change as your company scales. Some systems make it a hassle to transition away from a PEO when your headcount grows to the point of making it more cost-effective to bring services in-house. Look for solutions that allow you to move on and off PEOs without overhauling existing systems. Rippling is the only PEO built on a single, natively integrated platform, so you can adjust your benefits model without migrating data or retraining employees. As your business evolves, you can move off PEO to HR Services or just stay on the platform and bring HR fully in-house.

Schedule a demo with Rippling today

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Rippling PEO: Fully insured and fairly priced

With Rippling PEO, we pride ourselves on pricing each individual group to their unique risk profile. You won’t get sweetheart rates in year one only to get bait-and-switched in year two.

See why Rippling offers the #1 rated PEO

Rippling PEO is the only PEO that publicly shares its healthcare renewal rate increases every year. As well as providing predictable costs, partnering with Rippling PEO gives you access to top-tier benefits coverage and comprehensive compliance support. In addition to all of the large group plans, you can provide employees with on-demand benefits support via Rightway’s dedicated clinical experts. Plus, offload state and payroll tax accounts, and dozens of required filings.

Rippling is the only PEO built on a single, natively integrated platform, so you can adjust your benefits model without migrating data or retraining employees. As your business evolves, you can move off PEO to HR Services or just stay on the platform and bring HR fully in-house.

Your PEO should be upfront about how renewal rates will change every year. Try Rippling PEO today.