Not your momma’s group insurance.
Something has to give. The traditional group health insurance model is broken — another year of double-digit renewal increases isn’t a law of nature, it’s a business model. We have real alternatives: ICHRA and self-funded plans.
The data behind why your renewal keeps climbing.
Sources: AMA Competition in Health Insurance study; WSJ employer survey, Sept. 2025; GoodRx.com & Consumer Reports Pharmacy Survey; KFF Health Tracking Poll, 2024.
Same medications. Same pharmacies. Wildly different prices.
Average cash price for five commonly prescribed generic medications, 2010 vs. today, across three major pharmacy chains.
| Medication | 2010 Avg. | Today’s Avg. | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lisinopril (blood pressure) | $3.67 | $17.49 | +362% |
| Atorvastatin (cholesterol) | $12.33 | $62.83 | +404% |
| Metformin (diabetes) | $3.67 | $12.82 | +250% |
| Levothyroxine (thyroid) | $3.67 | $9.82 | +192% |
| Omeprazole (acid reflux) | $5.33 | $23.32 | +367% |
Average cash prices, 30-day supply, across CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens. Sources: Consumer Reports Pharmacy Survey (2013 pricing), GoodRx.com (2024 pricing).
of Americans have not filled a prescription because of the cost.
— KFF Health Tracking Poll, 2024believe the government should do more to regulate prescription drug prices.
— KFF Health Tracking Poll, 2024Two real alternatives to another year of renewal shock.
Neither of these requires you to give up coverage — they change how you pay for it.
ICHRA
An Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement. Instead of buying one group plan for everyone, you set a fixed, tax-free contribution per employee — and each employee shops the individual market for the plan that actually fits their family.
- Works for businesses of any size — no minimum or maximum
- Predictable, capped cost — you set the contribution, not the insurer
- Tax-free for both the business and the employee
- Employees pick coverage that fits their own household, not a one-size-fits-all plan
- Can satisfy the ACA employer mandate when structured correctly
Self-Funded Plans
Instead of paying a big carrier a fixed premium — padded for their profit margin and every other group’s bad claims — you pay your own employees’ actual medical claims, with stop-loss insurance capping your worst-case exposure.
- No insurer profit margin or risk-pool markup baked into your cost
- Stop-loss insurance caps your exposure per claim and in aggregate
- Keep the surplus in years where claims run low, instead of the insurer keeping it
- Full visibility into your own claims data for real cost management
- Best fit for employers with a reasonably healthy, stable workforce
The renewal increases aren’t slowing down.
Major insurer stock prices have grown 4 to 13 times over since the Affordable Care Act era began in 2010 — far outpacing the broader market. That growth has to come from somewhere, and increasingly, it’s coming from employer renewals.
UnitedHealth Group’s stock growth since Jan. 1, 2010 — the largest gain among the major health insurers.
— Yahoo Finance, data as of May 2024Stock growth over the same period at Humana, Cigna, and Elevance (Anthem/BCBS).
— Yahoo Finance, data as of May 2024This isn’t a fringe concern anymore.
Health insurance costs for businesses are on pace to rise by the most in 15 years, and multiple states are already warning against letting double-digit hikes become the new normal heading into 2026.
See what this looks like for your business specifically.
Every business’s claims history, workforce, and risk tolerance is different. A short conversation is enough to tell you whether ICHRA or a self-funded plan is the better fit — or whether your current group plan is still your best option.