The strongest fiduciary protection a healthcare partner can offer its plan sponsor customers.
The clearest way to demonstrate the fiduciary integrity that wins serious employer business.
ERISA class actions used to be a retirement-plan problem. They aren't anymore. Group health plans are now squarely in the crosshairs, and 2025 set a record for total filings — with much of the new volume aimed at how plan dollars are managed across PBMs, vendors, TPAs, and advisors.
The Platinum Guarantee is built to make sure the partner managing those dollars is solid enough not to be the problem in the first place — and to cover the plan sponsor if it somehow is.
If your customer — the plan sponsor — is sued under ERISA for mismanaging the plan assets that you handle, the Platinum Guarantee shields them from liability. It covers both court-adjudicated damages and settlements.
The guarantee applies to claims tied to your portion of plan assets. Plan sponsors remain responsible for their other fiduciary duties.
The Platinum Guarantee is open to any organization that handles plan assets and operates with fiduciary integrity, including:
Care navigation, MSK, virtual care, mental health, advanced primary care, and other point solutions paid out of plan assets.
TPAs that adjudicate claims and manage day-to-day plan operations on behalf of plan sponsors.
PBMs that operate as true fiduciaries — independent, transparent, and aligned with plan sponsor interests.
Advisors and brokers who recommend plan design, vendors, and contract terms on behalf of plan sponsors.
Other healthcare players that touch plan assets may also qualify. The bar is the same: act as a fiduciary, prove it, and stand behind it contractually.
The Platinum Guarantee is structured to sit alongside existing fiduciary insurance, not replace it.
| Layer | Who Pays |
|---|---|
| First $5,000 | Plan sponsor's E&O, D&O, or fiduciary insurer, per existing contracts. |
| Next $2,000,000 | Platinum Guarantee covers 50%, up to $1,000,000. |
| Above that | Existing insurance. |
Five criteria. Most fiduciary-aligned organizations already meet the spirit of all of them.
Your organization cannot be publicly traded or a division of a publicly traded company. A public company's fiduciary duty to shareholders creates an irreconcilable conflict with acting as a fiduciary for plan sponsor customers.
Your organization must hold an existing Validation Institute validation in your category — PBM, TPA, vendor, or advisor — or earn one alongside the Fiduciary Validation.
Complete a category-specific fiduciary questionnaire and a substantive review of how your organization handles plan assets in practice.
We record a short video with you covering the spirit of the Platinum Guarantee, fiduciary operations, and any questionnaire answers worth clarifying. The video is yours to keep and use in your own marketing.
You sign a brief agreement to write customer contracts consistent with your questionnaire answers. If a specific contract differs materially, send it to us — anonymized if you prefer — and we'll confirm whether the Platinum Guarantee still applies, or whether our standard $100,000 ERISA Immunity Guarantee applies instead.
The Platinum Guarantee functions as ersatz co-insurance, which means covered organizations — and often their plan sponsor customers — can negotiate discounts on their own E&O, D&O, or fiduciary policies. If your current carrier won't recognize it, we'll connect you with a P&C insurer that will.
The $100,000 ERISA Immunity Guarantee is the standard tier — same structure, broader access. A natural starting point for validated organizations that want fiduciary protection without the full Platinum qualification process.
Standard tier — for VI-validated vendors, TPAs, PBMs, and advisors who want to demonstrate fiduciary integrity to their plan sponsor customers.
See the standard tier →