Dive Brief:
- Medical captives, also known as alternative solutions for transferring risk in the insurance industry, could be the answer to medical transparency, reports Employee Benefit News.
- EBN quotes Mike Schroeder, president of Roundstone Management, as saying that some insurers, mostly large established insurance companies, withhold personal medical data under the pretense of complying with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Not sharing medical data blocks smaller, self-insured employers from avoiding risk, which, in turn, helps hold down healthcare costs.
- Medical captives have allowed small and midsize employers with as few as 25 employees to do what big companies have been doing all along: Pool with like-minded employers to maximize their purchasing power and directly contract with vendors to minimize their risks. Schroeder claims that his firm’s stop-loss group captive has experienced a 20% savings on healthcare costs.
Dive Insight:
Small and midsize employers must find creative ways to offer healthcare benefits to attract job candidates and retain valued employees once they’re hired. Medical captives might be a viable choice for many employers, especially those who would otherwise find offering healthcare coverage and other benefits too costly.
The issue of health data privacy is a complex one tying back to the larger issue of cybersecurity. Some observers have raised concern about the safety of using wearables to track employee fitness. Yet employers require certain forms of information in order to improve and personalize benefits packages.