Specialty Rx Sourcing
Specialty drugs represent under 2% of prescriptions but nearly 50% of drug costs. We connect employers with international sourcing and copay assistance programs, reducing specialty medication spend to near zero.
Executive Cost Containment · Northeast Ohio
Healthcare cost containment for CFOs & business owners.
Stop accepting 15% annual renewal increases. We give employers the data, tools, and funding structures to take back control of their healthcare spend.
A CFO's Reality
Healthcare costs shouldn't be an uncontrollable black box.
When CFOs and business owners receive their annual health insurance renewal, they are typically forced to make an unpalatable choice: absorb a steep premium hike that erodes operating margins, or slash benefits and pass higher deductibles onto valued employees.
Belding Insurance Group helps Northeast Ohio companies break this cycle. By looking beyond superficial carrier shopping and addressing the root drivers of claims—specialty pharmacy, surgical costs, and administrative fees—we build custom cost-containment programs that protect your balance sheet.
The Cost-Containment Playbook
Four pillars that lower spend without cutting benefits.
Pre-Negotiated Surgery
Direct bundled-rate arrangements for elective procedures (orthopedic, spine, cardiac) at top-tier centers of excellence, eliminating hospital price gouging and eliminating employee out-of-pocket costs.
Group Captives & Stop-Loss
Partnering with captive leaders Roundstone and Captive Resources allows mid-sized Ohio employers to pool stop-loss risk and recapture unused claims reserves at the end of the policy year.
Self-Funding & Captives
How group captives turn insurance costs into company assets.
In a standard fully insured model, every unspent premium dollar is pure profit for the carrier. In a member-owned group captive, unused claims dollars belong to you.
Through our relationships with national captive managers like Roundstone (headquartered right here in Lakewood, Ohio) and Captive Resources, we help employers with 25–500 employees pool their risk with other quality businesses:
- 100% Claims Transparency: See exactly where every healthcare dollar is spent instead of relying on carrier estimates.
- Unused Reserves Returned: Receive distribution checks for claims reserve surpluses when your workforce stays healthy.
- Insulated from Renewal Spikes: Shield your organization from volatile single-year rate shock through collective stop-loss purchasing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions on healthcare cost containment.
What size company benefits most from self-funding or group captive plans?
Employers with between 20 and 500 enrolled employees stand to benefit the most from level-funded or group captive health models. At this size, companies pay enough in fully insured premiums and carrier retention charges to achieve substantial savings—often 10% to 25%—by insuring their predictable risk and pooling catastrophic exposure.
How does pharmacy drug sourcing reduce employer health spend without cutting benefits?
Specialty medications can account for over 40% of total plan spend while affecting only 1–2% of members. Our pharmacy drug sourcing program accesses manufacturer assistance programs, international direct sourcing, and pass-through PBM contracts. Members often pay $0 copays for life-saving specialty medications while the employer's plan saves tens of thousands of dollars annually.
What financial risks are involved with self-funded health plans, and how does stop-loss insurance protect us?
In a self-funded plan, the employer pays actual claims incurred rather than a fixed carrier premium. Financial risk is capped through stop-loss insurance: Specific Stop-Loss sets an absolute dollar ceiling on any individual employee's claims, while Aggregate Stop-Loss caps the total annual claims spend for the entire company. Any claim above these thresholds is paid 100% by the stop-loss insurer.
How much can a mid-sized Northeast Ohio business expect to save with active cost-containment strategies?
While results vary based on plan design and employee demographics, companies switching from fully insured renewal cycles to our proactive cost containment and captive models routinely capture 12% to 28% in bottom-line health spend reductions within the first 12 to 24 months.
Ready to Lower Healthcare Spend?
Request an executive cost-containment review.
Schedule your 2-minute review with our Medina, Ohio advisory team to evaluate your renewal strategy, self-funding potential, and pharmacy savings.