Traditional Corporate Health Insurance Reimagined

Updated on October 13, 2021

How one insurance company is revolutionizing health coverage by offering employees more freedom and saving employers time and money

By Adam Olson, Senior Director of Product Marketing at SureCo

It’s no secret that the U.S. healthcare system needs an overhaul. At $3.65 trillion, America’s total healthcare bill is larger than the next ten greatest spenders combined. Healthcare is the average American family’s single largest expense, whether paid out of pocket or through taxes and insurance premiums. Although the Affordable Care Act (ACA) attempted to provide affordable coverage for people and families, the unfortunate reality is that Obamacare failed to deliver on the promise of “affordable” healthcare; even the bill’s authors admitted as such.

Americans, justifiably, are fed up with modern healthcare, and many are doubtful there will be a resolution in their lifetimes. As a result, healthcare sharing programs have become a popular alternative to traditional healthcare insurance and the ACA, with as many as two million people throughout the country already enrolled. These programs, offered by health care sharing organizations, provide a much-needed alternative to an otherwise outdated system. One such independent, licensed, and award-wining insurance agency has revolutionized health coverage by partnering with UHSM (Unite Health Share Ministry), a Christian healthcare sharing ministry and launching a platform that gives employees more freedom while saving employers time and money by offering both insurance and health sharing as part of the overall corporate offering.    

Reimaging Traditional Corporate Health Insurance  

As a pioneer and promoter of programs and solutions that lower health care costs and improve the quality of care, SureCo launched its new platform to help businesses provide their employees with better health care benefit options. It is the first in the market to offer corporate health sharing in conjunction with traditional insurance from major carriers, giving employees the freedom to choose health insurance plans and employers the power to make contributions towards employee premiums via an easy-to-use and elegantly designed digital marketplace.

This innovative solution will transform health care coverage by reducing the common COBRA risk and virtually eliminating the ACA reporting hassle. By alleviating the worry employers and brokers face from routine administrative burdens, corporate health sharing results in a cost-effective and time-saving approach unseen thus far in the market. Affordable and flexible, it will also boost employee engagement through outstanding coverage from major providers and the option of plan portability. 

How Health Care Sharing Works 

When considering that the U.S. economy will undergo significant change as the Baby Boomer generation retires and, as the workforce gradually becomes primarily contract workers, healthcare sharing will become an attractive replacement to traditional insurance – especially the previously mentioned corporate health sharing option. Moreover, health sharing programs have existed in practice since before the U.S. was founded, and exceptional modern iterations routinely save members up to 40% on medical costs versus traditional insurance.

Still, with the current model for healthcare being all most Americans know, alternatives can seem confusing; in actuality, health sharing programs are straightforward. Essentially, members send a monthly contribution that gets recorded and deposited into escrow on each member’s behalf. Members can then request that their eligible medical costs get shared with other members. The purpose is so that those involved can share each other’s burdens, allowing the total membership to have access to a greater pool of financial resources than one would have individually. Also, most health sharing programs are faith-based, enabling the creation of a community of like-minded people who hold the same convictions of maintaining a healthy body, empowering them to more effectively lower health care costs through collaboration.

The Future of Health Care  

Reminiscent of the transition from pensions to self-directed 401k, so too is health coverage shifting from corporate to self-directed. Despite the differences between corporate health sharing and traditional group insurance, the result is a health care process that is more stable and predictable in cost. Only time will tell if more alternatives to standard health insurance will arise or if American employers and individuals will continue to switch to corporate health sharing options. Nevertheless, the latter remains a bastion for flexibility, affordability and community with no signs of diminishing. 

The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.