At IronRoad, it costs the underwriting profit, because we want to earn from service, not spread. IronRoad administers a self-funded health plan on the UnitedHealthcare Choice Plus network and takes no underwriting margin on benefits. When claims run better than expected, that money stays with the plan and the employers in it instead of becoming revenue.
Is a value you cannot audit real, or a slogan?
Servant leadership is a phrase. You should not buy a phrase. Not with us, not with anyone. What you should buy, however, are a track record and a well-defined plan.Do not take our word for “servant leadership.” We would rather show you where ours is written down, how we’ve upheld that value, and how we continue to maintain it against any odds.
In mountaineering, an “iron road” is a protected climbing route on a mountain face using steel cables, rungs, ladders, and bridges. At no point anywhere in the iron road can one of these be loose or faulty. They are monitored, maintained, and sometimes moved so that you do not find out whether it will hold or it fail. It’s sole job is to support you.
Why does IronRoad run a self-funded plan instead of fully insured?
Under a fully insured plan, an employer pays a premium to a carrier and the carrier pays the claims. The carrier prices in what it expects to pay, plus a margin for being wrong. A good claims year belongs to the carrier.IronRoad runs a self-funded plan instead. Claims get paid out of the plan, IronRoad administers it, and the network is UnitedHealthcare Choice Plus, so employees see the same provider directory and the same in-network pricing they would see under a national carrier plan. What changes is the money underneath.
IronRoad takes no underwriting profit on benefits because that goes against how we see servant leadership. Our revenue is the administrative and service fee, and it is the same fee whether the plan was quiet or grueling in a given year. Margin on a year under projection is not how we see the terrain.
We make money on service, not on spread.
What does that change at renewal?
You can push back on a fully insured renewal, and the claims history that produced it is not really yours to examine.
Under a self-funded plan, the claims are yours. You can see what the plan actually spent, where it went, and what changed year over year. A good year reads as a good year. A bad year has a reason attached to it, and the reason is usually specific enough to do something about: a handful of high-cost events, a network gap in one county, a drug tier that stopped making sense.
What cost control means in practice is that each number has an explanation, and the explanation points at a decision. Mile markers, topography, plan.
What does it change for an employee in need?
If an engineer’s wife gets scheduled for an MRI, but the imaging center she was referred to is out of network, she might not find out until showing up at the facility. Then what happens? Is she forced to pay entirely out of pocket? Nobody, especially not someone already under stress, should be blindsided like that.
Under IronRoad's plan, a team member finds an in-network facility, calls her, tells her what it will cost before she goes, and gets the referral moved. Later, when the explanation of benefits shows up with a code, the same person calls the billing office rather than leaving her to belay herself.
None of that requires a self-funded plan, just somebody whose job is to be an anchor point. It’s easier to find that kind of coverage when the company is not also holding a margin that shrinks every time it helps.
Where does this structure costs us?
Self-funding moves risk. Under a fully insured plan, a catastrophic year lands on the carrier. Under ours, a catastrophic year lands on the plan and on IronRoad's ability to keep it stable, which is a real exposure and one we chose deliberately.
Giving up underwriting margin is the other cost, and it is not a small one. It is the most reliable revenue in this industry, and it is invisible to the client by design.
We think that is the correct trade, and we would rather you understand it as a trade than as generosity. Somebody has to tend the bridge. And that is part of our mission and is baked into each of our employees’ job descriptions. It is also the reason we are willing to use the word stewardship in public.
How do I check whether my plan is fully insured or self-funded?
Here is the part you can use whether or not you ever call us. Five questions will tell you more about a PEO's benefits posture than any page on its website, including this one.
- Is the health plan fully insured or self-funded, and who carries the claims risk?
- Does the PEO take underwriting margin on benefits? Ask for that answer in writing.
- Which network, and does it hold in the counties where your people actually live?
- Will you see claims data, at what level of detail, and how often?
- When an employee gets a surprise bill, who picks up the phone and calls the provider?
- A structure where our incentive and yours are intrinsically linked
- A group of people who are expected to be excellent—at their jobs and across the board.
- A (cost controlled) benefits plan your people are glad to have.
- A teammate willing carry the load when you need a breath.
What are we promising?
But, again, don’t take our word for it the fastest route up that hill is your own numbers. Send us your current plan documents, your renewal history, and your claims experience if your carrier will release it. We will show you what the same population looks like inside our plan.
FAQs
Is a self-funded plan riskier for my company?
The claims risk sits with the plan and its stop-loss coverage rather than with your company directly. Your exposure is defined by your service agreement, which should be reviewed alongside your plan documents before you make a decision.
Does self-funded mean fewer covered services?
No. Plan design determines what is covered. Funding determines who pays for it. IronRoad's plan runs on the UnitedHealthcare Choice Plus network, so employees use the same provider directory available under a national carrier plan.
Do we lose control of our benefits decisions?
No. Co-employment covers administrative employment: payroll, benefits, and compliance. Plan selection is a conversation, and hiring, firing, pay, scheduling, and culture stay entirely with you.
What happens to our current plan during a transition?
Timing depends on your plan year and renewal date. The conversation is worth having 90 days ahead of a renewal rather than 2 weeks ahead of one.
Start the conversation
Bring your renewal letter and your last 2 years of plan documents. We will read them, tell you what we see, and tell you plainly whether our structure would change your numbers.
Because at IronRoad, we are your PEOple, on purpose.
