A man, woman and small boy admire a new car in a showroom.
Huffines Auto

Transparency in Healthcare: Making the Switch

  • Family owned since 1924
  • 9 locations in Plano, Denton, Lewisville and McKinney
  • Winner of the Consumer’s Choice Award for 25+ years
the challenge

Like many U.S. employers who provide health benefits to their employees, Huffines felt like they were at a disadvantage because of limited insight into the charges and network discounts for healthcare services.

In 2009, one sizable medical claim ($600,000) set the wheels in motion for them to explore new options for their healthcare plan. The company wanted to apply the same business principles to their healthcare spending that they demanded for every other area of the business—meticulous review and understanding.

Traditional PPO plans offer a percentage discount off the provider’s chargemaster price. Most of the time, a 40% or 50% discount sounds great but Huffines’ in-depth review of the exorbitant claim told a different story.

“When a $600,000 surgery bill was reduced to ‘only’ $300,000, that still didn’t make me feel better.”Eric Hartter, CFO, Huffines Auto Dealerships

Eric Hartter

the solution
Huffines learned about Imagine360 for self-insured employers and its leading reference-based pricing (RBP) solution that’s built in.

RBP was appealing because of its thorough auditing of medical bills and because it starts with the cost of the service instead of arbitrary facility chargemaster charges. It then adds a profit margin to calculate a fair and reasonable reimbursement amount for employers, members and health systems.

To better understand how RBP works, the large claim was audited and assessed at approximately $30,000 — not the $300,000 paid by their PPO plan.

Besides the deep savings and control that Imagine360 offered, the enhanced member support and online account management were important for Huffines.

“The added feature of strong member advocacy services for our team members combined with the value of the RBP solution convinced us to make the switch.”

results

Big wins for Huffines Auto

  • 25% annual savings in healthcare costs versus traditional carriers

  • $31 million total savings since adoption

  • 12 years of success with reference-based pricing

the experience
The cost-saving benefits that Huffines experiences with Imagine360 gives them the control over their healthcare spending they were searching for.

They’ve been able to keep their employee’s premiums flat or moderately higher yet still offer the same level of healthcare benefits. Combined with the solution’s deeply supportive member experience, Imagine360 delivers the full-service health plan solution that checks all the boxes for Huffines.

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Huffines now has more money and flexibility for investing into the business, their team members and other initiatives as they approach the centennial anniversary of the family dealership.

the bottom line

After more than a decade of success, Huffines doesn’t see any reason to go elsewhere for a winning health plan.

“This is the best form of true healthcare reform I’ve come across.”

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