The Fiduciary Blind Spot: Why Every Self-Funded Employer Needs an ASO Analysis Before Renewal

Claiminformatics Team
Oct 31
3 min read

Free ASO Agreement Review | ClaimInformatics Fiduciary Compliance Analysis

At ClaimInformatics, we help plan sponsors identify hidden fiduciary risks. Before your renewal, we are offering a complimentary ASO Agreement & SPD Analysis, valued at $5,000. — At **ClaimInformatics**, we help plan sponsors identify hidden fiduciary risks. Before your renewal, we are offering a complimentary ASO Agreement & SPD Analysis, valued at $5,000.

Renewal season is here, and for self-funded employers, it’s not just about rates. It’s about fiduciary responsibility.

As renewal season approaches, self-funded employers face more than rising costs; they face fiduciary responsibility.

Under ERISA, plan sponsors and administrators aren’t just managing benefits. They hold personal fiduciary liability for how plan funds are used, for selecting vendors, and for protecting participant interests.

At ClaimInformatics, we help plan sponsors identify hidden fiduciary risks. Before your renewal, we are offering a complimentary ASO Agreement & SPD Analysis, valued at $5,000, to the first 15 self-funded entities who schedule a call this month. Click here to sign up.

This review helps ensure your plan aligns with ERISA and Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) standards, while safeguarding plan assets and maintaining fiduciary integrity.

⚖️ Your Fiduciary Duties Under ERISA

If you influence plan design, vendor selection, or claims management, you’re a fiduciary, and that means you must:

Act solely in participants’ best interest
Make informed, well-documented decisions
Follow the plan documents
Monitor vendor performance and contracts
Ensure fee reasonableness and transparency
Protect plan assets and data
Ensure there are no conflicts of interest

Fiduciary insurance typically does not cover breaches of these duties. Oversight failures can lead to regulatory penalties or personal liability.

🕵️ Where ASO Agreements Create Hidden Risk

Most self-funded plan sponsors assume their ASO agreement is boilerplate. In reality, these contracts often contain clauses that violate federal laws by:

Restrict your right to audit claims and claim payments
Limit access to essential plan data
Allow administrators to retain rebates or recoveries that belong to the plan
Transfer control from the employer to the carrier without fiduciary accountability
Include opaque or percentage-based fee structures

Each of these creates a fiduciary blind spot and potential legal exposure.

📊 What’s Included in Your Free ASO & SPD Analysis

Our limited-time, no-obligation identifies ERISA and CAA compliance risks embedded in your ASO and SPD agreements. Each finding is mapped to:

Violation Analysis – Pinpoints where contract terms and practices violate fiduciary duties of loyalty, prudence, reasonableness, monitoring, and CAA prohibitions on gag clauses and rebate opacity.
Carrier/Network Pushback Forecast – Anticipates the defenses your TPA, network, or PBM will raise (e.g., confidentiality, “industry standard” practices, proprietary contracts).
Recommended Fiduciary Position – Provides counsel-ready recommendations and SPD/ASO amendments that align with the Department of Labor for guidance and laws, ensuring fiduciary prudence and compliance.
Protective Amendments & Language – Offers compliant substitute provisions, independent audit and data access rights, reference-based caps, and rebate transparency clauses.
Strategic Oversight Framework – Supplies a fiduciary playbook that documents monitoring, cost reasonableness, and corrective actions to defend against co-fiduciary liability.

Each analysis is legally informed, providing fiduciaries with the negotiating leverage to reject carrier-friendly provisions, secure transparency, and fulfill their statutory obligations under ERISA and the CAA. While we are not a law firm, our extensive experience reviewing these agreements allows us to provide practical, counsel-ready recommendations that serve as a strong starting point for your ERISA attorney to build upon.

🧩 Why Act Before Renewal

Renewal season locks you into another year of administrative fees and potential exposure. A proactive fiduciary review can:

Reveal hidden costs and compliance gaps
Strengthen fiduciary oversight and governance
Improve transparency and recover plan savings
Provide legal defensibility in the event of a DOL audit

Fiduciary compliance isn’t optional; it’s essential protection for your organization, your employees, and yourself.

Protect Your Plan. Protect Yourself.

Take advantage of our complimentary ASO analysis to identify risks, benchmark your plan, and document fiduciary prudence before renewal season. ERISA requires oversight. We make it achievable.

📅 Schedule your free ASO analysis today - click here to sign up.