Scaling Health Benefits for Remote Employees
"SureCo’s innovative benefits platform has been a game-changer for our rapidly growing organization."
—Eric Ly, CEO of KarmaCheck and LinkedIn Co-Founder
KarmaCheck is a fast-growing company that uses data-driven technology to bring truth, speed, and efficiency to background checks. With employees across 15 states and counting, KarmaCheck provides the fastest background check for employment needs.
A Look at the Numbers
54%
saved on premiums
Had KarmaCheck opted for traditional group insurance instead of an ICHRA with SureCo, its expenses would’ve been an estimated 54% higher in 2023.
28
unique plans chosen
KarmaCheck’s employees had hundreds of plan options to choose from. They ended up opting in to 28 individual plans from 11 major carriers.
226%
increase in enrollment
KarmaCheck is a high-growth startup. Its employees’ and their dependents' ICHRA enrollment increased by 226% from January 2022 to June 2023.
The Challenge
Finding cost-effective quality health coverage for a distributed, growing workforce
KarmaCheck is a remote company with a geographically distributed workforce. When Tim Flanders, founding member of KarmaCheck, was looking into group health plans back in 2022, he needed coverage across four states. He found good coverage at decent rates for his California employees, but ones in Florida, New Hampshire, and Tennessee proved almost impossible.
At the time, KarmaCheck had fewer than 50 employees and was not considered an Applicable Large Employer beholden to the Affordable Care Act’s Employer Mandate, so Flanders considered not offering a healthcare plan for his employees at all and simply reimbursing them. “I have a large family and I can just go to healthcare.gov and get a better plan, which was cheaper for them versus what was offered to me as a group plan,” he said.
But Flanders also knew the company was growing quickly and he would need to find a solution sooner rather than later to be both ACA compliant and attract and retain top talent.
The Solution
An intuitive benefits platform that leverages the individual market
Flanders found that solution in SureCo’s Enrollment Platform. By offering growing and enterprise businesses a streamlined way to administer an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA) at scale, SureCo provided a cost-effective way for KarmaCheck to offer all its employees great health benefits no matter where they lived.
The idea of contributing pre-tax dollars to employees’ individual health coverage plans while remaining compliant was exactly what Flanders wanted, but he also needed it to be easy to implement for a time-strapped startup.
SureCo acted as an extension of KarmaCheck’s HR team and ensured a seamless onboarding and open enrollment process. “SureCo handled the rollout, the deductions, and everything,” Flanders said. “The Enrollment Platform offers a good way to relieve yourself of the burden of benefits administration and the cost for the ROI that we're getting from what we're paying for SureCo services is undeniable.”
“The cost for the ROI that we're getting from what we're paying for SureCo services is undeniable.”
Tim Flanders
Founding Member of KarmaCheck
The Results
Cost-effective health coverage for employees across the country
Today, KarmaCheck has 50+ employees with plans across 15 states, and they’ve renewed their ICHRA with SureCo for a second year. Had the company gone the traditional group plan route in 2022 instead of an ICHRA, its premiums would’ve likely been 36% higher, based on industry trends for companies of comparable size and distribution. Furthermore, its 2023 renewal rates could have easily increased by 11% (the average increase across the Information Technology Services Industry). Taking that increase into account, opting for an ICHRA saved KarmaCheck an estimated 54% in healthcare expenses this year.
Beyond cost savings, SureCo’s Enrollment Platform has helped KarmaCheck experience tremendous gains in employee satisfaction and benefits management efficiency.
“SureCo’s innovative benefits platform is a game-changer for growing organizations looking to compete for great talent by offering best-in-class health benefits,” said Eric Ly, CEO of KarmaCheck and LinkedIn Co-Founder. “We have employees across the nation, and we can now offer the best plans for the many regions our employees are in, while garnering the company significant time and cost savings.”
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