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About Scott

The math is not the decision.

Scott Iwanowski · Employee Benefits Advisor at The Mahoney Group

I’ve spent 15 years in employee benefits—from actuarial work and carrier underwriting to healthcare analytics and advising employers.

Why this exists

Very expensive decisions should not end with “trust me.”

Employee benefits is a business where a lot of very expensive decisions end with some version of “trust me.” I have never been especially comfortable with that.

I have built the models, priced the renewals, studied the claims, and explained the results to the people who actually had to decide what to do next.

At The Mahoney Group, I help employers understand their health plan costs and weigh their options.

Sometimes the right answer is to make a change. Sometimes it is to stay exactly where you are. The job is not to force an interesting answer. It is to make the real answer understandable.

The work

The recommendation should come with its reasoning.

I write about the costs, choices, and assumptions behind a benefits recommendation.

The numbers should help you make the decision, not bury it.

Sometimes the answer is to change course. Sometimes it’s to stay put.

What you can expect from me

Clarity without theater.

01

Trace the driver

Separate what is observed, projected, inherited, and negotiable.

02

Name the tradeoff

Explain who carries the cost, the friction, and the risk.

03

Test the answer

Ask what would have to change for the recommendation to change.

04

Keep people in view

Remember that rates and contracts eventually land with families.

Outside the spreadsheet

The numbers land somewhere.

I’m a husband, a father of three, and a lifelong athlete. These decisions affect families. That keeps the spreadsheets in perspective.

Start with the decision

What are you being asked to trust?

Have a benefits question? Send it over, or let’s talk for 30 minutes.