Caravus Case Study #3: “A small business with big expectations.”
At Caravus, keeping our clients healthy and secure is in our DNA. We want to share a few of our success stories with you through the case studies highlighted in our news feed.
Client
St. Louis-based design company. On the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies a total of six times.
The Challenge
The client challenged us to find new and different short-term and long-term solutions to save on health care costs.
Their Goals
The company was tired of being on the fully insured merry-go-round where, as an owner, you hold your breath during each health plan renewal cycle and hope for the best. Constantly shopping for the best coverage at the best rate, or worse, changing carriers every one to two years, is a difficult situation to manage. As a small-sized business, they would often get surprised by high renewal increases.
Our Insights
The hybrid self-funded model seemed like a good fit for several reasons. For one, it offers claims transparency, which has become vital in this new health care market. Next, leadership liked the idea of having greater control over costs by educating employees on how to better use the health plan. Further, wellness initiatives would save our valued client money on claims, an appealing benefit to any company. As the group was not willing to accept the fully insured renewal, and Affordable Care Act health options were not competitively priced, the hybrid self-funded plan solved many issues.
We Made The Complex Simple
The goal of self-funding is to partner with one insurance carrier and maintain coverage through this carrier year after year. We recommended a carrier that offered all of the reporting needed to understand what was going on behind the scenes, as well as assistance in implementing wellness initiatives and member support for employees. The goal was to help employees become smarter health care consumers, which saves on health care costs.
How It's Going
The company has been on this model for three years now. We have added another health plan option to employees, continued with wellness initiatives to include an annual biometric screening and health and fitness challenges, and continued employee education
on how to use the health plan most efficiently. This client is a great example of an employer utilizing all of the available tools in the marketplace to keep costs down and benefits as rich as possible. Moving to one carrier has given them a greater opportunity to provide for the health care needs of their workforce while still controlling company costs. With their current level of engagement, both the employer and employees are learning to be more responsible for their health.