Was it last renewal? … The last two? … Three years in a row?
For many Washington employers, this has become the only lever left to pull.
Every year brings the same bad choice:
Pay tens of thousands more in premiums… or Push more cost onto employees through higher deductibles, co-pays, and payroll deductions
And every year, the plan gets a little worse.
What makes this so frustrating is that most business owners don’t want to offer bare-bones benefits. They want a plan they’re proud of. But rising healthcare costs have slowly forced a steady erosion of coverage.
Here’s the part that surprises most new employers we meet:
Most of our clients have lowered deductibles and improved benefits while also spending less per year.
Here’s a couple of simple examples of how we do this:
Two Big Levers Most Employers Never Get Shown
At a high level, there are two major ways we help employers reverse the deductible creep:
- Access to Better (and More) Options
Most employers are only shown a tiny slice of what’s actually available.
At WHIA, we don’t just look at:
All of the Washington-based options, including trade and association plans…
We also access:
Hundreds of exclusive strategies and plan designs available nationally that most brokers don’t even know exist, let alone know how to implement.
Washington is a very unique market with:
- Special regulations
- Unique pricing structures
- And one of the largest selections of trade and association health plan options
When you combine deep WA market expertise with access to larger national-level benefit solutions, it opens the door to better plans at better prices. Options many employers never even knew were possible.
- A Smarter Way to Handle Deductibles (HRA Layering)
In order to offer lower deductible plans, many companies assume their only option is to buy rich coverage for everyone, even though most employees rarely use their insurance.
When done correctly, layering a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) allows employers to use a lower-premium, higher-deductible plan — while covering out-of-pocket costs for employees who actually need care.
When done correctly, this can:
- Lower total costs for both Employee and Employer
- Give employees very low or even zero deductible exposure
- And avoid paying for Cadillac coverage for everyone
This is not a DIY strategy. The plan design, compliance rules, and structure matter. Done right, it’s one of the most powerful tools for delivering better benefits at a lower cost.
The Pattern We See Everywhere
Almost every business owner we meet says some version of this:
“We’re not happy with our benefits anymore. They used to be better. But every year, the deductible goes up… and the plan gets worse.”
That slow erosion feels inevitable.
It isn’t.
Before You Accept Another Year of Worse Benefits
If you’ve raised your deductible:
- Once
- Twice
- Or several years in a row
It’s probably time for a different approach.
There are better ways to structure your plan — but most employers will never see them with a traditional brokerage model.
If you’d like to explore what might be possible with a more strategic approach to benefits, reach out to me directly to schedule a consultation.
Talk soon,