Throughout the years, businesses and organizations have seen a seismic shift in the way health care plans are designed and priced. From the major medical plans in the 80’s, to the high deductible health plans in the early 2000’s, we have witnessed an evolution in the way employers pay for their health care programs. One of the key components to this evolution was the shift in the way we think about what causes high premium rates and what types of control measures we can implement to reduce the costs to the organization, as well as the employee.
In conjunction with several large state associations, Webber Advisors has created a number of self-funded group health care consortiums, which help association members gain control their healthcare costs.
WHAT IS A CONSORTIUM?
A consortium is joining together for the advantages of economies of scale and cost efficiencies. Each member organization can choose the benefit plan design and employee contribution structure that best suits its needs while paying its own rate. The rates are based on the organizations’ demographics and historical claims experience.
The Consortium model is a unique-funding mechanism for a health care plan. These programs permit each organization to maintain its own level of benefits, employee cost participation and plan designs. The idea is to use the self-funded model to lower administrative costs, secure exposure with a proprietary stop-loss package and gain access to the member’s specific claims data. The rates are then determined by the organization’s demographics and historical claims experience. By joining together and using the purchasing power of the participating members, we are able to provide a level of predictability that is otherwise not attainable through other health insurance options. These consortium models are run by the members, not an insurance company and not by an insurance agency. Because of this, the interests of the participating member organizations, and their employees, are evident in every decision made.
As the state of healthcare continues to change, a self-funded program will aid each organization in positioning themselves to better control long-term costs. Additionally, the sharing of “Best Practices” within the group has proven to be invaluable to all of the members. The value of these programs is based upon the collective efforts of the entire group. Every addition to the membership only reinforces the ability to tackle whatever is ahead in the health care landscape and control your own destiny.
To learn more about the associations we work with, and the benefits of the consortium model, click on the logos below…
