Cost vs. Risk: Unlocking Level Funding for SMBs

The question of how to fund a health plan can be a tricky one for employers. Options have historically been limited, with the only choice being self-funding or fully-funding. And for small and mid-size businesses who couldn’t afford the fully-funded route, that meant they really had no choice at all. But all that’s changing with the advent of level funding, a variation of self-funded health plans in which the employer and insurer share the risk, limiting their financial responsibility through stop-loss coverage. To get more insight on the level-funded model, Gravie Chief Marketing Officer and host Jeff Smokler sat down with Ben Simmons, Gravie’s Chief Strategy Officer, and Maggi Gentle, Vice President of Human Resources at Lumos Pharma. The three discussed how its financial advantages – paired with an emphasis on more flexible plan designs – are changing the benefits game for smaller employers and their employees. Episode Chapters (00:00) Introduction (02:46) What exactly is level funding? (08:15) Is level funding too good to be true? (12:03) How does level funding impact your out-of-pocket max? (16:37) How business size matters for your funding model (19:49) Breaking down the barrier to entry through education (23:26) What industries and states is level funding best for? (26:47) Level funding makes room for plan design innovation (32:44) The future of level funding (37:00) Upcoming innovations from Gravie