As premiums for traditional healthcare coverage continue to climb, employers are finding it increasingly difficult to offer a competitive benefits package that attracts and retains the best and brightest employees. To overcome pricing hurdles, some employers have started to evaluate what self-funded health plans might better meet their needs by offering lower premium costs and greater transparency into spending. Traditionally, self-funding's popularity has been limited  to larger employers because they have a bigger employee population to spread risk and absorb unexpected large claims.

Amwins Group Benefits is proud to provide a portfolio of offerings through Stealth Partner Group, a specialty general agent that has dedicated its practice to serving employers, broker and carriers with comprehensive, turnkey stop-loss and captive solutions. Captives provide the transparency and potential cash savings of self-funding but add the benefits of customization and flexibility that smaller employers need. A group captive simulates the risk profile of a larger employer by allowing multiple self-funded employers to pool their funds to pay for an additional layer of stop-loss protection. There are many variations in group captive structures and each program is unique to its members.

The ideal groups for a captive arrangement have a culture of health and wellness and are interested in driving premium cost reductions through greater transparency into their health costs. These groups take a specific interest in educating their members to take advantage of cost-effective healthcare options such as generic prescription drugs and annual wellness visits with a primary care physician.