Optimized Employee Benefits Strategies to Improve ROI

Chris Freitas • Mar 25, 2024

Navigating the world of employee benefits can feel like trying to solve a puzzle, especially when you're aiming to balance providing high-quality benefits with managing costs. As business owners wrestle with the rising premiums of group health insurance, the quest for creative financing methods to reduce benefits-related expenditures has never been more critical. 


However, there's a silver lining in the form of alternative funding options that can help companies, whether they have 25 or 2,500 employees, potentially slash their benefits costs. Here's how you can save money on your employee benefits, keeping both your team and budget happy. 

 


How to Save Money on Your Employee Benefits 

Gone are the days when only the largest corporations could think about stepping away from fully-funded insurance programs towards self-funded options. Thanks to the evolution of the market and the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, a myriad of alternative funding options have emerged. These alternatives provide nearly any business owner the opportunity to explore different funding arrangements based on their financial capacity, objectives, and employee demographics. 


 

Alternative Employee Benefit Funding Options 

Fully-Insured Plans: This traditional route offers the least risk to employers but comes with higher costs. You pay a premium to an insurance carrier for a specified plan, with no financial surprises but also no savings on lower-than-expected claims. 


Self-Insured Plans: Self-funded employee benefits refer to a system where, instead of paying premiums to an insurance company, an employer directly assumes the financial risk of providing healthcare benefits to its employees. Under this model, the company pays for each claim as it arises, typically setting aside a pool of funds for this purpose. Companies might opt for this financing choice to gain more control over their benefits plan, enjoy potential cost savings, and increase flexibility in plan design. This approach allows businesses to tailor their benefits offerings more closely to the needs of their employees and can lead to significant savings, as they avoid the overhead and profit margins built into traditional insurance premiums. 

Level Funding: Level funded employee benefits are a hybrid model that combines elements of both fully insured and self-funded insurance plans. In this approach, an employer pays a fixed monthly fee to a third-party administrator or insurance provider, which covers estimated claim costs, administrative fees, and stop-loss insurance. This setup aims to offer the cost-saving and customization benefits of self-funding, with the financial predictability and lower risk of fully insured plans. 


Captive Funding: Captive funded employee benefits involve companies coming together to form their own insurance company, or "captive," to finance their risks, including employee benefits. This approach allows businesses to pool their resources to self-insure, sharing the risks and rewards of funding their health plans collectively. Companies might opt for captive funding as a strategic choice to gain greater control over insurance costs, benefit from potential savings through reduced insurance overheads and profit margins, and achieve more stable premiums over time. 


Consortium Funding: Consortium funded employee benefits involve a group of companies coming together to pool their resources and share the risks associated with providing healthcare benefits to their employees. This collective approach allows smaller employers to leverage the buying power and risk-sharing advantages typically available only to larger organizations. 

Reference-Based Pricing: Reference-based pricing (RBP) for employee benefits is an alternative payment model that sets spending limits on certain medical services. Instead of using traditional insurance networks, employers pay healthcare providers based on a fixed reference point—often a percentage above the Medicare reimbursement rate for the same services. This method aims to contain costs by eliminating the wide variance in pricing for healthcare services and creating price transparency. 


 

The Benefits of Being Creative 

By stepping out of the fully insured comfort zone and exploring alternative funding methods, employers can gain greater control over their benefits plans. This control enables a more tailored approach to benefits that can better meet employees' needs while managing costs effectively. Additionally, alternative funding models  can provide more predictability in expenses, avoiding the month-to-month variability that can make budgeting a headache. 

 


The Benefits of a Benefits Consultant 

Saving on employee benefits through alternative funding methods can be complex and daunting, but that's where KBI Benefits comes in. Our clients have saved up to 40% on their employee benefits thanks to our decades of experience in the space and unique approach to analyzing expenditures. 


Ready to explore how you can provide excellent employee benefits while keeping an eye on your bottom line? Speak with a KBI Benefits representative today. 

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