At Harlowe, we’ve been drawn to the VCIA because of their broad based, fundamental understanding of how self-funding programs and captive insurance arrangements are structured. The collective expertise possessed by the members of the association allows us to develop common sense solutions to problems that are faced by literally everyone who is self-funded for health insurance, and therefore likely has a medical stop loss arrangement including some form of captive insurance. Although the idea of cost-containment in this space can feel complex, the key to success is to earn support from all participants, including stop loss carriers, captive administrators, TPAs, broker-consultants, and obviously employers/captive members and their respective employees.
Take, for instance, a concept very near and dear to what we do at Harlowe: Clinical Navigation and Intervention. Our clients reap the benefits of having our clinical nursing team intervene and reach out to their employees when we have identified that we can find a lower cost provider for a procedure they are about to have or, our team can respond to direct inquiry from their employees about procedures they are about to have, ultimately navigating them to a lower cost alternative. In both instances, there are inherent intricacies in rolling out our program. Between integration with TPAs and stop-loss providers, data integration and reporting, and of course, general employee education and engagement activities, it takes a committed and progressive employer to be willing to come along for the ride.
As complex as it may seem, the payoff can be immense. When employees are actively engaged with a program like this, employers can wind up saving tens of thousands (or more) in medical spend, possibly even delaying or avoiding penetration into captive and/or stop-loss layers. The key is partnering with a team, like Harlowe, who manages the intricacies and takes the lead on employee education and engagement.
Self-funded employers who are drawn to these concepts, and are driven to achieve beneficial outcomes, have a strong shared interest with TPAs, captive managers, consultants, not to mention the team at Harlowe, all of whom are members of the VCIA. We congratulate VCIA on 40 great years and look forward to continuing our partnership!
