Rates went up again. The question is which of the four levers you are willing to pull.
Small and mid-group medical plans, marketed to carriers each year rather than renewed by default — including level-funded and HRA alternatives when the fully-insured renewal stops making sense.
Tell us the situation.
A licensed human replies the same business day — not an auto-responder, and not five producers calling at once. We shop it across our carriers and tell you if the policy you already have is the right one.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
What group health insurance businesses actually need.
Fully insured plans
The carrier takes the risk and charges a fixed rate per employee.
Without it — Predictable, and the default — but you never see where the money went.
Level-funded plans
Self-funding with stop-loss, at a fixed monthly cost with a possible refund.
Without it — A healthy group subsidises a sick one in the fully-insured pool and gets nothing back.
HRA-based alternatives
Reimbursing individual coverage tax-free instead of buying a group plan.
Without it — Small employers priced out of group cover conclude they can offer nothing.
What group health insurance operators ask us.
How much does a group health plan cost?
The KFF Employer Health Benefits Survey is the number to anchor on rather than any broker’s estimate — the 2025 survey puts average annual premiums at $9,325 for single coverage and $26,993 for family coverage, with workers contributing an average of $6,850 toward the family premium. Your own figure moves on group size, average age, industry, state, plan design and network. Most employers set a fixed dollar contribution rather than a percentage, which caps the exposure when the renewal moves.
What is a level-funded plan and should we look at one?
It is self-funding with training wheels: you pay a fixed monthly amount covering expected claims, administration and stop-loss insurance, and if the group’s claims come in under the expectation you get some of it back at year end. The appeal for a healthy group is that you stop subsidising the fully-insured pool and you finally see your own claims data. The risks are real — the renewal can move sharply once claims are visible, and returning to the fully-insured market after a bad year is harder. It usually makes sense above about 20 to 25 employees with a genuinely healthy population.
Do we have to offer coverage at all?
Only at 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees, where the ACA employer mandate applies and the penalties for not offering affordable minimum-value coverage are substantial. Below 50 it is entirely voluntary — which does not make it optional in practice, because you are hiring against employers who offer it. The small-business route worth pricing before you conclude you cannot afford it is a QSEHRA or ICHRA, which gives employees tax-free money for their own coverage without the employer taking on a group plan.