.png?width=500&height=136&name=4J%20commercial%20insurance%20broker%5B1%5D%20(1).png)
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas renewals
Your Blue Cross renewal is in. Here is what you can actually do.
Opening a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) renewal can feel like a choice between signing it and starting over. It rarely is. We will give you an independent, written read on your renewal within one business day.
- Appointed with Blue Cross and the other major Texas carriers
- No cost, and no broker of record letter unless expressly requested by the customer
- If your renewal is fair, we will tell you to keep it
4JReviewed by the 4J Benefits Team: licensed Texas benefits advisors, led by credentialed REBC and CLCS leadership and backed by Premier Group Insurance.
Get your renewal read
Free, confidential, and no obligation.
About a minute. No documents needed to start.
Prefer to talk? Call (817) 750-0421 or book a time.
Required fields are marked with an asterisk. We respond within one business day. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Please do not include Social Security numbers or medical information.
One business dayto our written read
Appointed with Blue Crossand the other major Texas carriers
Secure document linkno attachments by email
Compensation disclosedbefore anything is bound
Your options
More than sign it or start over.
Which of these makes sense depends on three things: how many employees are on the plan, how close your renewal date is, and how much your people rely on specific doctors and prescriptions.
01
Negotiate the renewal you have
Find out what is driving the increase and what Blue Cross can move on before you sign.
02
Change the plan design
Deductibles, copays, networks and contribution tiers can lower cost while keeping the carrier.
03
Change how the plan is funded
4J places Blue Cross fully insured PPO and HMO plans, level-funded plans and self-funded (ASO) arrangements. Each fits a different group size and risk appetite.
04
Compare other carriers
See what the rest of the Texas market offers, with the network and prescription trade-offs laid out.
05
Keep Blue Cross, change your broker
Your policy, rates and network stay exactly as they are. Only the advisor changes.
06
Keep what you have
If the renewal is fair for your group, we will tell you, in writing.
Under 50 employees
The 2027 small group increase is final.
Carriers have already planned for 2027. Their rates are set and approved. Has your company done the same?
We believe in full disclosure at 4J Insurance. So here are the numbers, and what they mean.
A rate increase does not make a carrier bad or greedy. Carriers adjust rates to keep up with the rising cost of care and prescriptions, changes in legislation and ACA requirements, and changes in who the plans cover. Every carrier in the Texas small group market had its 2027 increase approved as filed.
Texas approved Blue Cross's 2027 small group filing in full: an average of 19.19% across its small group book, 17.59% on Blue Choice PPO and 24.93% on Blue Advantage HMO.
| Carrier (alphabetical), 2027 Texas small group | Approved average increase |
|---|---|
| Baylor Scott & White | 14.34% |
| Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas | 19.19% |
| Scott and White Health Plan | 18.35% |
| UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company | 16.44% |
| UnitedHealthcare of Texas | 16.05% |
Source: CMS rate review, ratereview.healthcare.gov (Texas, small group, 2027). Last verified November 12, 2026. Averages across each carrier's small group book. Your group's renewal can be higher or lower depending on its plans, ages and location.
Sometimes staying with your current carrier is an option. It is not always the best option. That is what the review is for. For a closer look at what is behind the 2027 Blue Cross increase, see why Texas approved Blue Cross's 19.19% small group increase.
50 to 500 employees
Your renewal reflects your group, not the average.
Larger groups are not renewed off a filed table. The number is built from your own claims, large claims, medical and pharmacy trend, and how your census has changed. That is why two companies on the same Blue Cross plan can see very different renewals, and why the claims experience report matters more than the headline percentage.
What we check: the claims behind the increase, any large claims that should be pooled, whether the plan design drifted, and whether level funding or self-funding would put your good claims years to work for you.
Before you move
If you are weighing a move, what to check first.
Blue Cross has the largest footprint in Texas, so a move carries real network risk. Before recommending one, we check which doctors and hospitals your employees actually use, which prescriptions they take and where those sit on the new drug list, how deductibles already met this year are handled, and how much change your people can absorb at once.
Staying with Blue Cross and changing brokers is simpler than most employers expect. A broker of record change moves who advises you. Your policy, rates, plans and network stay exactly the same. We only request one when you expressly ask us to.
Before you request
The questions that usually come up.
Do we have to leave Blue Cross to lower our costs?
No. Many of the options keep you with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas: negotiating the renewal, changing the plan design, or moving to a level-funded or self-funded Blue Cross arrangement. Moving carriers is one option, not the default.
Will changing carriers change our employees' doctors?
It can. Before any move we check your employees' doctors, hospitals and prescriptions against the other carrier's network and drug list, and we show you what would change. If the disruption outweighs the savings, we will say so.
Can you get Blue Cross to reduce our renewal?
Sometimes. We review what is driving the increase and what can be negotiated, and we compare it with the rest of the market. No one can promise a reduction, and we will not.
Is there a cost for the review?
No. If 4J later places coverage, our compensation is disclosed to you before anything is bound.
When to start: ideally 120 days before renewal, so there is time to market the plan if the review supports it. A late review is still worth doing. Please send documents only through the secure link we provide, never by email.
4J Insurance Brokerage is an independent brokerage appointed with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. We are not owned by or endorsed by Blue Cross, and it is one of several carriers we work with. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas names are used for identification only.
Related reading: UnitedHealthcare renewal alternatives · Aetna renewal alternatives · Cigna Healthcare renewal alternatives · Why group health renewals increase · Health plan funding options · Dallas Fort Worth employee benefits broker · North Texas employee benefits broker · Group health renewal review
Your Blue Cross renewal date does not move. Your options shrink as it gets closer.
Request your read today and have it within one business day.