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Resources

Everything you need to
make a smarter decision.

Guides, tools, case studies, and insights — built for CFOs and HR Directors who want to understand self-funding before they commit to anything. No forms, no gates. Just useful information.

Featured Resource

The Mid-Market Employer's
Guide to Self-Funding

A comprehensive, no-jargon guide to understanding how self-funded health plans work, whether your company is a good candidate, and what the transition actually looks like in practice. Written for CFOs and HR Directors — not benefits attorneys.

01What self-funding actually is — and what it isn't
02Is your company a good candidate? The honest criteria
03How stop-loss works and why it matters
04The PBM problem — and how to fix it
05What to expect in year one
06Questions to ask before hiring a benefits advisor
Read the Guide
Benefits Collective — Free Resource
The Mid-Market Employer's Guide to Self-Funding
A practical guide for CFOs and HR Directors considering the move from fully-insured to self-funded health plans
6 chapters  ·  28 pages
Savings Estimator

See what self-funding
could save you.

Enter a few details about your current plan and we'll estimate your potential savings in year one. This is a rough projection based on our client data — not a guarantee — but it gives you a realistic starting point for the conversation.

The actual savings analysis we perform for prospective clients is far more detailed, using your real claims data and a full actuarial model. This tool gives you a directional sense of the opportunity.

Estimate Your Year-One Savings
Estimated Year-One Opportunity
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Estimated total savings in year one
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Reduction vs. current spend
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Pharmacy savings (PBM restructuring)
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Admin & TPA fee reduction
These are estimates based on average outcomes across Benefits Collective clients. Actual results vary based on your specific claims profile, workforce demographics, and plan design. Schedule a consultation for a detailed analysis using your actual data.
Compliance Calendar

Every deadline.
All year long.

Self-funded plans carry a significant compliance burden. Missing a filing or disclosure deadline can expose your organization to IRS penalties, DOL audits, and legal liability. Use this calendar as a reference — and let us manage the actual execution.

Filter by regulatory framework or download the full calendar as a PDF.

2026 Compliance Deadlines
Jan 31
1095-C furnished to employees (2025 coverage year)
ACA
Feb 28
CHIP notice to employees (annual)
ERISA
Mar 1
Medicare Part D notice to CMS
ERISA
Mar 31
1094-C / 1095-C electronic filing with IRS
ACA
OE Date
Summary of Benefits & Coverage — must be provided by plan effective date for open enrollment; within 90 days for special enrollments
ERISA
Apr 14
HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices — annual review
HIPAA
Jun 30
Section 105(h) non-discrimination testing
IRS
Jul 31
Form 5500 filing deadline (calendar-year plans)
ERISA
Aug 1
HSA / HDHP plan design review for 2027 plan year
IRS
Sep 30
Summary Annual Report (SAR) distributed to participants
ERISA
Oct 2
Medicare Part D creditable coverage notice to participants
ACA
Nov 1
Open enrollment — ACA marketplace opens (reference)
ACA
Dec 1
Cafeteria plan amendments deadline (plan year-end)
IRS
Dec 15
ACA affordability & minimum value self-assessment
ACA
Dec 31
Plan document & SPD updates effective for 2027 plan year
ERISA
Industry Insights

What every employer should
know right now.

💊
Pharmacy Strategy
The PBM Rebate Problem: Where Your Pharmacy Dollars Are Actually Going
Most employers have no idea how much of their pharmacy spend is being captured by PBM middlemen. Here's exactly how spread pricing works — and how to stop it.
8 min read  ·  Benefits Collective
📊
Self-Funding
How to Read Your Stop-Loss Contract (And What to Watch Out For)
The three clauses that catch employers off guard at renewal — and how to negotiate them before you sign.
6 min read
🏗
Employer Insights
Is Your Company Big Enough to Self-Fund? The Real Criteria
The 100-employee threshold explained — and why some smaller groups are better candidates than others.
5 min read
⚖
Why Your Broker's Incentives Are Working Against You
4 min read  ·  Broker Model
🩹
Direct Primary Care: The $680/Member/Year Savings Most Employers Miss
5 min read  ·  Primary Care
🔍
What 18 Months of Claims Data Taught One Manufacturer About Their Health Plan
7 min read  ·  Analytics
FAQ

The questions
we hear most.

These are the questions CFOs and HR Directors ask us most often before making the move to self-funding. We've tried to answer them the way we'd answer them in a real conversation — directly, without the sales spin.

How big does our company need to be to self-fund?
Generally, employer groups with 100 or more employees are strong self-funding candidates. Below 100, the claims volatility risk increases and stop-loss becomes more expensive relative to premiums. Above 100, the math almost always works in the employer's favor — though it depends heavily on your specific claims profile and workforce demographics. We can tell you quickly whether you're a good candidate.
What happens if someone has a catastrophic claim?
That's exactly what stop-loss insurance is for. Specific stop-loss kicks in once any single member's claims exceed your deductible — typically $75K–$150K depending on group size. Aggregate stop-loss caps your total plan liability for the year. The result is that you get all the upside of self-funding without uncapped catastrophic exposure. We structure and competitively bid both layers for every client.
How do we explain self-funding to our employees?
From the employee's perspective, the experience is essentially identical. They have the same ID card, the same network access, the same pharmacy benefits, and the same claims process. The difference is entirely in how the plan is funded on the back end — and that's invisible to members. We help clients develop communications that explain the change simply and build confidence with their workforce.
How is Benefits Collective compensated?
We charge a flat advisory fee, disclosed in full upfront, for our complete suite of services. We receive no commissions from carriers, no placement fees from TPAs or PBMs, and no overrides from stop-loss carriers. Every dollar we earn comes directly from our clients — which means our interests are fully aligned with theirs. We believe this is the only model that can produce genuinely unconflicted advice.
How long does the transition take?
A typical transition from fully-insured to self-funded takes 90–120 days from engagement to go-live, aligning with your plan's renewal date. We manage the entire process — TPA selection, stop-loss bidding, PBM transition, and employee communications — so your HR team's workload is minimal. The most complex part is the discovery and design phase, which we lead entirely.
What if self-funding isn't right for us?
We'll tell you. If your claims profile, workforce demographics, or risk tolerance make self-funding a poor fit, we'll say so clearly — even if it means we don't work together. We've turned away prospective clients who weren't good candidates, and we'd rather do that than put an employer in a structure that's wrong for them. A free consultation will give you an honest read within the first conversation.
Ready to Talk?

The best resource is a real conversation.

Guides and calculators can take you a long way. But a 30-minute conversation with our team will tell you more about your specific opportunity than any tool we could build. No pressure, no commitment.

Schedule a Consultation See Our Approach

No pressure. No commitment. Just a conversation.