If you’re an employer, you may feel like you’re paying too much for healthcare and getting too little in return. Your last renewal probably came with another rate increase and no clear explanation. And every year, your employees keep paying more out-of-pocket. Yet despite all that spending, no one’s getting better care or better results.
To regain control, many companies have turned to a different kind of health plan, called a level funded health insurance plan, which is a form of self funded plans. These plans are helping small and mid-sized businesses get a bit more control and some much-needed savings.
And Hilb Group’s own level funded health plan—Purust Health—uses a unique approach to take this approach even further.
To understand why many business leaders are making the switch to level funded health insurance, we’ll use this blog to break down what’s behind all these rising costs, how level funded health plans actually work, and what sets Purust Health apart.
In this blog, you’ll learn:
Why the structure of traditional plans drive up your costs
How level funded health plans work and who they’re for
How Purust Health is able to help you often achieve lower costs and better care
Let’s take a closer look.
The Hidden Problems Behind Rising Costs
Due to a number of factors, healthcare costs are steadily climbing across the board in almost every industry. Deductibles are rising. Out-of-pocket costs keep growing. And the options for real change feel limited. But underneath all of this, there are also a few hidden structural issues quietly keeping your costs high.
Caught Between Risk and Rigidity
If you’re a business owner or decision-maker, when it comes to employee benefit plans, you’re essentially stuck between two extremes.
Fully insured health plans offer predictability but very little flexibility. You make steady monthly payments to the insurance carrier, regardless of how much care your team uses. Even when actual claims are low, there’s no refund. And if your costs go up the next year, you don’t really have any way to push back.
Self-funded health insurance gives employers more flexibility to design a plan around their team’s specific needs and usage and can provide the opportunity to get money back if claims are lower than expected. But this also comes with more exposure. If you experience higher-than-expected claims, the financial impact can be serious. That’s often too much risk for SMBs.
Bundled Plans, Limited Transparency
Many traditional health plans are structured in a way that keeps key services—like claims processing, pharmacy management, provider network access, and stop-loss coverage—tied together. In some cases, the companies providing those services are owned by or closely connected to one another.
When that happens, it becomes harder to see how dollars move through the system or to identify opportunities to reduce costs. Even though you’re paying for each part of the plan, it may not be clear what you’re actually spending on care versus administration.
Without access to clear claims data or a full breakdown of costs, employers are often left making decisions without insight. And when you can’t track what’s driving increases, it’s difficult to plan ahead or manage your healthcare expenses effectively.
Little Guide for Employees
Many employees are also facing high deductibles and limited choices. But it’s not just the coverage that’s the problem. Many traditional plans don’t give employees the tools or support to navigate the complex healthcare system so they can make informed decisions.
When not provided any help finding better options or understanding how to reduce health care costs on their end, employees often default to more expensive care unknowingly or skip care altogether. That leads to worse health outcomes, more expensive claims, and growing frustration on all sides.
Why More Employers Are Turning to Level Funded Health Plans
Faced with rising costs and limited options, you’re probably looking for a new approach. That’s where a level funded plan can offer something different.
Level funded health plans offer you a middle ground between fully insurance plans and self funded plans. You make consistent monthly payments, just like with a fully insured plan, but with a cap on how much you’ll ever spend.
The Basics of Level Funded Health Plans
A level funded health plan works like this: Simply put, you pay a flat monthly amount to cover administrative fees, stop loss coverage, and your claims fund. If your claims stay below a certain threshold, you can get a portion, or even all, of that claims fund back.
It feels like a fully insured plan because your monthly costs are steady. But it’s structured more like a self-funded plan. That means your business could get some of your investment back at the end of the year, and you may also have more say in how things are managed with more flexibility in designing your employee benefits plan.
Small and Mid-Sized Employer Friendly
Companies with as few as 10 employees can take advantage of level funding. And it’s a great way to control healthcare costs without taking on more risk than you can handle.
There’s no runout liability when you leave. Just a simpler way to manage your plan and possibly get some of your money back at the end of the year.
And some level funded health plans are more flexible than traditional options, allowing employers to add programs like mental health support, virtual care, or even wellness programs, depending on what makes sense for their team.
The Catch
Even with all their advantages, the majority of level funded health plans are still built around the same bundled structures. One company might handle the network, the pharmacy, and the claims, making it hard to identify savings opportunities for your business.
That lack of separation can limit flexibility and keep costs hidden. So, while level funding is a step in the right direction, it doesn’t always solve the bigger issues that are typical for the current healthcare landscape.
That’s where Purust Health comes in.
How Purust Health Goes Even Further
Purust Health is a level funded health plan that was built from the ground up to deliver maximum value at the lowest cost possible. It aims to give you more cost control, clearer insight, and a better care experience for your team.
Each Piece Works in Concert
How is this possible? Purust Health separates the key parts of your health plan—like the claims processor (TPA), pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), medical provider network, and stop-loss insurance carrier—and brings in independent experts for each. These vendors work together, but not for each other. That keeps your plan efficient and your costs in check.
By working with specialists who focus only on what they do best—paying claims, managing pharmacy benefits, or other administrative tasks—Purust Health can often secure more competitive pricing than traditional bundled plans.
With Purust Health, the TPA’s only job is to process claims quickly and cleanly. The stop-loss carrier is selected based on performance and value, not based on ownership. And the network is chosen based on your location and your team’s needs so employees get access to high-quality care at the right price.
Clear Pricing, Real Control
With most plans, you get a bill and little explanation. With Purust Health, you see how your plan is built. You know the cost of claims, administrative fees, and pharmacy services. You get clear pricing, more control, and the ability to offer quality health benefits while still meeting your budget.
Savings That Come Back to You
If your employees use less healthcare than expected, the unused portion of your claims account gets refunded. Not just a credit or a percentage. Your business gets the full unspent amount back.
That surplus can be used to offset future costs or be reinvested elsewhere. Either way, you keep the full cost savings.
Lower Out-of-Pocket Costs for Your Team
Most traditional health plans cut costs by shifting more of the burden to employees. Purust Health does the opposite.
Its integrated supplemental health coverage helps reduce your team’s out-of-pocket expenses. It covers smaller claims within the deductible, which helps prevent premium increases and makes it possible to offer plans where the deductible is reduced to as low as $0.
Advanced primary care and mental health services are also included with $0 visits in many cases. That gives employees same-day access, care coordination, and support without added cost.
Purust Health also includes healthcare coordination to help employees identify lower-cost care options, and understand how to use their benefits more effectively so they can avoid unnecessary expenses and get the most out of their coverage.
All of this means that most Purust Health clients have an average deductible under $500.
For many employers, numbers like these feel like turning back the clock—bringing health benefits closer to what they used to be before high deductibles and rising out-of-pocket costs became the standard.
International Prescription Sourcing
Everyone knows specialty drugs are one of the biggest cost drivers in most plans.
International sourcing allows prescription drugs to be safely obtained from licensed pharmacies outside the U.S. at significantly lower costs. This approach is commonly used to reduce the expense of high-cost brand-name medications without sacrificing quality or safety.
Purust Health integrates international sourcing into our plans to reduce pharmacy claims, helping protect the employer’s claim fund. By lowering overall plan spend, this strategy increases the employer’s chances of receiving a refund at the end of the plan year.
One Card. One Experience.
With Purust Health, your team uses a single ID card for all services. Medical claims. Supplemental coverage. Everything. That means fewer phone calls, less confusion, and a better experience from the start.
Real-Time Support Through a Smarter App
Healthcare is one of the only things your employees buy without knowing the price up front. Our app helps fix that.
It’s a real-time benefits app that lets employees search for care, compare prices, and connect with providers before making a single appointment. They can even message a live care coordinator for help with scheduling, pricing, and billing questions.
Your team doesn’t have to guess what a procedure will cost or wait weeks to be seen. They get faster appointments with high-quality, in-network providers and the information they need to make smarter choices.
That means fewer unnecessary claims and lower costs for your business.
Take Control of Your Health Plan
You don’t have to settle for rising premiums and frustrated employees. Level funded health plans offer a smarter, innovative way forward—and Purust Health takes it even further.
For many employers, it feels like turning back the clock. Lower deductibles. Predictable spending. Health benefits that your employees can actually use.