The Client

A Northern California industry leading technology firm specializing in webinar-based marketing solutions. They are in rapid growth mode and expect to add significant headcount to their current 300 employee work force.

The Issue

Their medical insurer quoted a 30% increase on their renewal, alleging the double-digit rate increase was justified due to several large claims, including one premature birth which generated costs in excess of $1 million. When we requested the loss data, they declined, alleging the release would be a HIPAA violation.

The Solution

Because of our deep background in compliance issues, we were successful in showing the carrier this claim information did not meet the definition of “Protected Health Information” (PHI) under the HIPAA Privacy Rule and they ultimately agreed to share the data. Our analysis revealed the large claims were closed and/or non-recurring which significantly improved the financial projections. We then undertook a full scale medical marketing effort.

The Results

Our team negotiated outstanding renewal terms, especially for a client of this size. Key results:

• Renewal premium $300K lower than expiring and below their initial proposed premium
• $50K to fund a wellness program
• $25K budget to assure plan communications are high tech and state-of-the-art
• $50K performance guarantee
• Participating contract with revenue share, and
• Year 2 renewal premium cap

In the near term, we delivered significant financial savings on the renewing program and built in protections against unwelcome premium surprises next year. Longer term we are working closely with the H/R and management teams to establish and build out a great total rewards program design that is so essential in attracting and retaining key talent in the hyper-competitive technology industry sector. Studies have shown that creative benefits and attractive perks frequently rank higher than salaries in winning over candidates, and we are partnering with our client to support their recruiting efforts for first class talent and make certain they are the employer of choice.