By Bill Meehan, CEO of Cobalt Benefits Group 

As an employer, choosing your employee benefit plan is one of the most important decisions you’ll make all year. It isn’t just an administrative choice – it’s a strategic one that directly impacts your bottom line, employee satisfaction, and even your ability to attract and retain talent.  

So when you’re navigating the complex world of employee health benefits, it’s important to understand all the available options. At Cobalt Benefits Group, we’ve seen firsthand how third-party administration (TPA) services can offer innovative solutions while maintaining the security and network access that your employees expect and deserve. 

Within the Blue Cross Blue Shield portfolio, there’s a range of excellent product options designed to fit different business needs. But for organizations seeking additional flexibility – without sacrificing the safety and security of a trusted BCBS national network – a TPA approach is definitely worth considering. Here’s why choosing a self-funded plan may be a needed choice to meet your organization’s unique employee benefit needs. 

 

Is a TPA Right for Your Organization?
If your organization has unique needs that might benefit from a more customized approach to health benefits, a TPA solution is worth exploring. This is particularly true if: 

• • You want flexibility in plan design without sacrificing network access 

• • Your employee population has specific health challenges that require targeted solutions 

• • You’re looking to balance quality care with cost management 

• • You value both personal service and technological innovation 

If this sounds like you, keep reading to learn more about the advantages of working with a TPA. 

The Perfect Balance: Flexibility with Security (Employee Ease of Mind) 
Compared to a fully insured plan, self-funding through a TPA can be a great option for employers looking to gain more control over their benefit expenses. In short, a self-funded health plan empowers your organization to get more value out of every dollar spent on employee benefits – without sacrificing coverage for your employees.  

What makes a TPA solution, like the plans offered by Cobalt Benefits Group, particularly valuable is how it combines customization with the comfort of a nationally recognized brand. When your employees pull an ID card from their wallet that displays the Blue Cross Blue Shield logo, they know they’ll have access to quality care and an extensive provider network. This familiar “blue blanket” eliminates the friction that can sometimes accompany benefit changes – your employees simply see a trusted name they recognize. 

But beneath that familiar brand lies a highly customizable framework that can be tailored to your organization’s specific needs. Let’s explore the three primary advantages of this approach: 

Advantage #1: Cost Management Through Customization 
Traditional fully funded health plans are designed for millions of members. The benefit structures they offer are crafted based on vast amounts of data and countless member interactions. However, these solutions are necessarily designed for many, not for one. 

Where TPAs excel is in our ability to craft solutions to meet the unique needs of each customer. Rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach, we can: 

• • Design plans that address the specific cost drivers in your employee population 

• • Offer competitive administrative fees that help control overall expenses 

• • Create targeted solutions for your organization’s particular health challenges 

• • Analyze your claims data to identify unique opportunities for cost management 

The result is a more focused approach to controlling healthcare costs. We’re active partners in this process. And at Cobalt Benefits Group, our team is passionate about analyzing your data and bringing possibilities to the table that are personalized to your specific needs. 

Advantage #2: Quality Through Flexibility 
As a TPA, our entire infrastructure is designed for customization. While traditional fully insured health plans create highly integrated solutions that work beautifully as complete systems, they aren’t typically built for extensive mixing and matching of components. 

A TPA like Cobalt Benefits Group is different. Our “secret sauce” is our ability to: 

• • Offer curated solutions that accommodate your unique preferences 

• • Integrate your preferred pharmacy solution without disruption  

• • Incorporate your chosen stop-loss coverage seamlessly 

• • Adapt to your preferred care management approach 

As a company, we’ve worked hard to procure the very best options. But if you have a preferred solution, we can seamlessly incorporate the vendors or solutions you feel passionately about.

This isn’t about replacing one comprehensive solution with another: It’s about crafting the right solution for your specific situation. If you’re particularly passionate about a specific aspect of your benefits program, we can incorporate that while providing guidance on other elements where you might want our expertise. 

By customizing your benefits to the specific needs of your employee population, you can offer the health benefits your employees will truly value – while keeping costs in check. 

Advantage #3: Enhanced Member Experience 
At the end of the day, what matters most is how your employees experience their healthcare benefits. By designing plans with members in mind, we focus on: 

• • Connecting members with the right care at the right time and place 

• • Providing exceptional customer service through our local, highly-trained team 

• • Offering user-friendly technology that simplifies the healthcare journey 

• • Creating a frictionless experience from implementation through daily use 

At Cobalt Benefits Group, we’ve invested heavily in building a culture where our team members can build lifelong careers, not just jobs. We offer competitive benefits, flexible working conditions, and profit-sharing because we believe taking care of our people directly translates to taking care of your people. 

When your employees call with questions or concerns, they’re speaking with professionals who are valued, supported, and empowered to help. This investment in our team ensures that you don’t forfeit anything in terms of service quality when choosing a TPA solution. 

The Best of Both Worlds 
What makes our approach at Cobalt Benefits Group unique is that we offer the flexibility and customization of a TPA while maintaining the security and reliability of the Blue Cross Blue Shield network. Your employees enjoy seamless access to their preferred providers, including teaching hospitals and major medical centers, without the uncertainty that can sometimes accompany benefit changes. 

In today’s complex healthcare landscape, having options matters. Whether you choose a fully insured solution or a self-funded plan administered by a TPA, what’s important is finding the right fit for your organization’s unique needs. At Cobalt, we’re proud to offer solutions that can be as unique as the organizations we serve, all while providing the peace of mind that comes with the Blue Cross Blue Shield name.