Seeing is believing: How a transparent health plan saved money
without compromising quality
- Award-winning IT services
- 280+ covered lives
- Based in Moorestown, New Jersey
“What’s the good of being self-insured if all the data is still hidden behind a curtain like in Oz?”
For John Bialous, Chief Operating Officer of Miles IT, that was the big question weighing on his mind as he considered his company’s self-funded health plan with one of the major national carriers.
“We felt like we were just going through the motions with that plan. We still didn’t have access to a lot of the claims data, and we weren’t seeing our claims expenses regularly enough to understand what was really going on with our plan.”
John wanted more transparency into how the health plan was helping to curb rising costs – not just for the company but also for the hardworking employees who depend on quality, affordable healthcare. To get it, he was ready to walk away from the status quo.
“With a health plan that uses reference-based pricing (RBP), I could see how it could save us money.”
Imagine360 has the only RBP-powered solution on the market that is third-party verified to save an average of 19.8% compared to plans from traditional carriers. And with detailed claims reporting, it offers employers like Miles IT a clearer view of plan performance.
“At the end of the day, I like seeing the claims and the savings every single week. The transparency has been a key part of this decision.”
– John Bialous, Chief Operating Officer of Miles IT
“Our people were happy knowing their premiums weren’t going up.”
According to Bialous, the savings on the medical side were exactly what Miles IT hoped for. As a direct result, the company intends to keep employee contributions the same heading into year two. And, employees can now get virtual primary, urgent and behavioral healthcare services at no out-of-pocket cost.
Now that the company finally has a better view of how their new health plan is making a positive impact on medical costs, Bialous is thinking about solutions to increase savings and transparency on the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) side of the plan.
“We are seeing much better responsiveness now. Member and HR support is proactive in helping us understand how everything works.”
Bialous admits his previous open enrollment experiences have been unpleasant – both on the member and HR. For a company that aims to treat employees like family, that was a big problem. Imagine360’s ongoing employee communication program and designated support for HR provided a better cultural fit for Miles IT.
Beyond this, Imagine360 guides members through every step of the healthcare journey – from finding providers to managing serious conditions. “We want to make sure the entire healthcare experience is good, and Imagine360 helps us do that.”
“This is why we do what we do. We are literally giving savings back to our people and that’s what drives us to push for better.”
Making the move to an alternative health plan from Imagine360 didn’t just save money, it pulled back the curtain so Miles IT could make smarter, more informed healthcare buying decisions.
Using healthcare savings to recruit and retain nursing staff
