As the cost of health insurance rises, more employers are searching for ways to reduce expenses while still providing generous health and wellness benefits to their employees, according to some benefits experts here, who say companies can find savings through often overlooked plans and other cost-saving measures. 

Corporate health plans offered by insurers are purchased by employers and shared with employees, with expenses ranging from about $450 to $1,200 per employee per year, says Donna Lane, account manager at Ontario, Oregon-based Field-Waldo Insurance Agencies Inc., which does business in Spokane as Benefit Consultants Northwest.

Depending on the size of the company, age demographics of employees, and resources the company has available, completely or partially self-funded plans could be a better strategy, she says.

“Everybody's looking at cost, and everything is so expensive but there are so many plans out there that can offer what you would call platinum coverage versus something more like a bronze coverage,” says Lane. “Platinum coverage is going to have better coverage, though it's going to cost more in premiums.”

One such option — Section 125 cafeteria plans, named for section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code — allows participants to pay to receive health benefits, dependent care assistance, and life insurance coverage on a pretax basis, says Lane.

“The employer also gets that benefit by writing off the premiums,” she says. “So there are some creative benefits for the small employer.”

Self-insured plans, where the employer directly pays employees’ medical claims, and level-funded plans, a hybrid model where employers pay a monthly fee to insurers in case of large claims but may receive a refund if claims are lower than expected, have also become more popular in recent years, Lane adds.

“Employers have an interest in the level-funded plans because who wouldn't want a refund?” she says. “With insurance companies, if you have a fully-insured plan and your premium is being paid to the insurance company and you don't use it, what happens with all that money?”

Kristie Golden, past president of the Inland Northwest Society of Human Resource Management and current senior human resources talent manager at Spokane Valley-based Numerica Credit Union, says while it’s a smart idea to reduce insurance and wellness benefits costs, offering quality benefits to retain employees can be the most cost-effective option employers have.

At Numerica, over 50% of turnover involves front-facing, entry-level roles, which take an average of 24 days to fill once a position is posted, Golden says. Hiring a new employee costs the credit union about $6,000 but that doesn’t include the cost of lost productivity during a full 90-day onboarding period.

“A good estimate is about 50% of an employee's salary is how much it costs to fully replace them from start to finish,” says Golden. “We've replaced 72 (employees) for 2025 so that adds up pretty quickly.”

Conversely, health insurance and wellness benefits like gym access, paid time off, and fertility services only cost an organization between 10% and 15% of an employee’s salary, Golden adds.

Another cost-saving measure, that also helps employee retention, involves asking for and accepting feedback from employees as to what benefits aren’t being used, in addition to which benefits they’d prefer to have available, says Heather Lauderdale, Inland Northwest Society of Human Resource Management membership co-director and benefits and leave administrator at Numerica.

“If you listen to what your employees are asking for and make a good faith effort, you're more likely to keep them than them being the squeaky wheel that never gets greased and eventually falls off,” Lauderdale says. 

For instance, Numerica surveys employees to learn which benefits are most valued and which benefits aren’t taken advantage of. As a result, employees have requested and been granted additional fertility services, extra wellness and mental health days. Additionally, Numerica’s benefits department is currently evaluating the possibility of covering weight loss drugs as a benefit.

Educating staff about their available benefits also help ensure that some of the overlooked or misunderstood wellness benefits, such as health savings accounts and free gym membership access, aren't going to waste, adds Lauderdale.

“When we're looking at what we're doing for the next year, we ask, ‘How did the year prior go or how are things going? What have our employees asked for that we aren't providing? How can we better educate them on their benefits so that they take full advantage of the package?’ And we take those kind of steps throughout the year as we look towards the next year for renewal,” she says.

Lane recommends that small businesses interested in offering employee benefits go through a benefits broker, who can discuss savings options and technologies such as telehealth that can help reduce employer's costs while still providing quality benefits to employees.

“With the small employers, their primary thing is (providing) medical. If you can get them to offer other ancillary (benefits), then it's a good thing,” she says. “But ...  it's all about cost. They just want to save money, but they need to keep their employees too.”