← All writing

Under the RFP · Vetting a TPA · For plan sponsors and brokers

Don’t pick a TPA off the sales cycle.

Moving a group to a new TPA is one of the biggest decisions a plan sponsor and a broker make together. It strains the group. It strains the relationship between the broker and the group. Both sides carry fiduciary responsibility. And it is no simple platform swap: it reaches into people’s health, their pocketbooks, their access to care, and the time and stress they spend on a claim.

Run the sales cycle. See which TPAs you like. Then bring me in to vet your finalists, so you know what you are walking into before you sign. Most answers are neither right nor wrong. They are the truth about what you are about to take on.

See Under the RFP Read the series

Aly Hollewijn·Nearly twenty years in self-funded plan operations·No vendor commissions, referral fees, or contingency

Start here · Post 1 of 10

How do you vet a TPA for a self-funded health plan?

Start with what your plan needs: hands-on service, technology, or pre-integrated partners. Then test the areas where administration breaks.

Read the post →
Short answerDecide what your plan actually needs from an administrator, then test whether the TPA’s operations can deliver it. Skipping the first step is the most common reason a good-looking TPA turns into a poor fit.
02

What is a TPA actually administering, and how much is in-house?

In-house or white-labeled, which claims system, aggregator networks, and how many lives the TPA really administers.

3 min read
2026 03

How do claims reach the right network and benefit tier?

The claims lifecycle, repricing turnaround, tiered networks, provider overlap, and what happens when a claim lands in the wrong tier.

3 min read
2026 04

What should you ask about TPA plan build and auto-adjudication?

Who builds the plan, who tests it, what the auto-adjudication rate means, and why a clean audit can mislead.

3 min read
2026 05

What goes wrong in a TPA implementation, and how do you vet vendor integrations?

Vendor integrations, prior authorizations on claims, who owns the project, and the contract terms worth asking for.

3 min read
2026 06

How do you vet a TPA’s dedicated account manager?

Background, tenure, operations knowledge, the support and authority behind them, how they are reviewed, and how you reach them.

4 min read
2026 07

What happens after go-live when a TPA has no dedicated account manager?

When the implementation team steps back and questions go to a shared inbox: the handoff, escalation, who answers, and how you reach a person.

3 min read
2026 08

How do you evaluate a TPA’s leadership team and org chart?

The org chart, reporting lines, and what a young, thin, or long-tenured leadership team means when problems arise.

3 min read
2026 09

What turnover should you expect at a TPA, and what does it tell you?

Which roles should turn over and which should not, and how to ask a TPA for tenure data by department.

3 min read
2026 10

What should you ask a TPA about accumulators, PBM data, stop-loss, and cash pay?

Accumulator files, pharmacy data, midyear deductible credits, stop-loss tracking, and cash pay programs.

3 min read
2026

No broker or employer is expected to know every one of these questions, or what each answer means. The posts give you the questions and how to read the answers. Putting them together, knowing which threads to pull and what one answer means next to another, is the work I do in Under the RFP. I don’t recommend which TPA to choose. I help you see clearly what you would be choosing.

Choosing a TPA right now?

Tell me who is on the shortlist. I sit down with your finalists, go underneath the proposal, and put the answers together so you know what you are walking into before you place the business. Quoted by scope, no retainer required. It works alongside your broker’s or consultant’s RFP process.

Start a conversation