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The playbook is changing

A New Playbook for Health Insurance, Employee Benefits & Workers’ Compensation.

Alternative approaches are gaining ground for a reason. Explore innovative strategies designed to reduce costs, strengthen your workforce, support fiduciary compliance, and reduce risk.

Benefitra is an independent employee benefits brokerage for employers. We compare the main ways to fund a group health plan, including fully insured, level-funded, self-funded, ICHRA, captive, PEO and Taft-Hartley options, along with employee benefits and workers' compensation, and show the trade-offs in plain numbers. Our free calculators let you model your own costs first.

Beyond medical

Employee Benefits

Explore ancillary benefits beyond medical coverage for your team.

Explore Employee Benefits Traditional and innovative solutions designed to attract and retain employees while supporting employer revenue and fiduciary compliance. Health plan options

Health Insurance

Explore health plan options and funding arrangements for your business.

Explore Health Insurance See expected 1- and 5-year savings and odds in two clicks, using methodology reviewed and validated by Blackwell. Protect your workforce

Workers' Comp

Explore workers' compensation coverage and support for your business.

Explore Workers' Comp National blue-collar specialist. Our workers' compensation clients save 37.5% on average.

Benefitra in brief

Benefitra is an independent employee benefits brokerage. We help employers choose how to fund their health plan, build the rest of their benefits package and place workers' compensation, and we publish the math behind each option so a finance leader can check it.

Who we work with

  • Growing employers, about 20 to 250 employees, that have outgrown a one-size small-group plan but do not have an in-house benefits team.
  • Founders, CFOs and HR managers facing a renewal who want to see the alternatives before they sign.
  • Construction and trades businesses that need workers' compensation alongside health benefits.
  • Brokers and agents who use our calculators and materials with their own clients.

What independent means here

We are not captive to an insurance carrier. That lets us put fully insured quotes next to level-funded, self-funded, captive, ICHRA, PEO and Taft-Hartley options for the same group, and recommend the one whose risk the employer can actually absorb, including staying where it is.

Our founder, Sam Newland, CFP, reviews the insurance and benefits content on this site under our editorial policy.

The funding arrangements we compare

How a health plan is funded decides who pays the claims, who keeps a surplus and how much the renewal can move. These are the arrangements we model for clients, with who bears the claims risk in each.

Fully insured

Claims risk: The carrier

You pay a fixed monthly premium and the carrier pays every claim. Simple to run, and the carrier keeps any surplus. State insurance mandates apply.

Level-funded

Claims risk: Shared, capped by stop-loss

A fixed monthly payment funds expected claims, administration and stop-loss. You see claims data, and part or all of a surplus can come back, depending on the contract.

Self-funded

Claims risk: The employer

You pay claims as they occur through a third-party administrator, with stop-loss for large claims. More control and data, and more administration and cash-flow variation.

Self-funded captive

Claims risk: A pool of employers

Each employer self-funds its own claims, and a group of similar employers shares the stop-loss layer through a captive.

ICHRA and QSEHRA

Claims risk: Each employee's individual plan

You give a tax-free monthly allowance and employees buy individual coverage. ICHRA works at any size; QSEHRA is for employers under 50 full-time equivalents with no group plan.

PEO-integrated

Claims risk: The PEO's master plan

A professional employer organization co-employs your staff and covers them under its plans, bundled with payroll and HR administration.

Taft-Hartley

Claims risk: A jointly run trust

A multiemployer health fund set up under a collective bargaining agreement and run by an equal number of union and employer trustees.

See all seven arrangements compared on twelve dimensions.

How working with us works

  1. Model it yourself first. Free tools such as the Funding-Fit Discovery, the Health Plan Funding Simulator, the ICHRA calculator and the level-funded calculator need no sign-up.
  2. Book a free consultation. Thirty or sixty minutes by phone or Zoom. Bring your current plan details and renewal notice if you have them.
  3. Get a side-by-side comparison. We look at your group size, claims history, workforce, HR capacity and state, then compare the arrangements that fit, showing cost, cash flow and who carries the risk in each.
  4. Decide and implement. You choose. We handle carrier placement, enrollment materials and the renewal each year after.

Beyond the medical plan

Employee benefits covers dental, vision, life, disability and other ancillary and voluntary coverage, through traditional carriers, PEO-supported packages or a self-funded captive. Workers' compensation rules differ by state; our state workers' comp calculators explain how coverage is bought in each state and which figures are illustrative.

Frequently asked questions

What is Benefitra?
Benefitra is an independent employee benefits brokerage for employers. It is not tied to any one insurance carrier, so it can compare carriers and funding arrangements side by side and recommend the one that fits the group. Benefitra also publishes free calculators and guides on health plan funding, employee benefits and workers' compensation. About Benefitra
Who does Benefitra work with?
Mostly employers with roughly 20 to 250 employees: companies that have outgrown a one-size small-group plan but do not have an in-house benefits team. The usual contacts are founders, finance leaders and HR managers facing a renewal. Benefitra also works with businesses in the trades that need workers' compensation, and offers its tools to brokers and agents. Tools for brokers
Which health plan funding arrangements does Benefitra compare?
Seven group arrangements: fully insured, level-funded, self-funded, self-funded captive, ICHRA (individual coverage HRA), PEO-integrated and Taft-Hartley. For small employers that do not offer a group plan, Benefitra also explains the QSEHRA. Each arrangement answers the same question differently: who bears the claims risk. Compare all seven arrangements
What is the difference between a fully insured and a self-funded health plan?
In a fully insured plan the employer pays a fixed premium and the carrier pays the claims and keeps any surplus. In a self-funded plan the employer pays claims as they occur, usually through a third-party administrator, and buys stop-loss insurance to cap large claims. A self-funded ERISA plan is generally not subject to state insurance mandates, but the employer takes on plan administration duties such as the written plan document, participant notices and, once the plan has 100 or more participants, the annual Form 5500. Self-funded plans explained
What is a level-funded health plan?
A level-funded plan charges a fixed monthly amount that covers an expected claims fund, administration fees and stop-loss coverage. If claims come in under the expected amount, part or all of the surplus can come back to the employer, depending on the contract. If claims run high, stop-loss limits the employer's cost. It is a common next step for stable groups that want claims data without taking on full self-funded risk. Level-funded plans explained
What is an ICHRA, and how is it different from a QSEHRA?
Both are health reimbursement arrangements that give employees tax-free money toward individual health insurance. An ICHRA is available to employers of any size, has no annual dollar cap and can offer different amounts to defined employee classes. A QSEHRA is only for employers with fewer than 50 full-time employees (including equivalents) that offer no group health plan, and the IRS caps it each year: 6,450 dollars self-only and 13,100 dollars family for 2026. ICHRA vs QSEHRA
When does a PEO make sense for health benefits?
A professional employer organization (PEO) co-employs your staff and covers them under its own master health plan, bundled with payroll, tax filing and HR support. It tends to fit smaller employers without a dedicated HR person who want one vendor and one bill. The trade-off is less control over plan design, and as headcount grows the bundled price is worth re-checking against running benefits directly. PEO health plans explained
How do I know which funding arrangement fits my company?
Five questions usually narrow it down: how many employees you have, how stable your claims have been over the last two years, how your workforce is spread across states and worker types, how much HR and finance capacity you have, and which state you operate in. Benefitra's free Funding-Fit Discovery asks twelve questions and grades your fit across all seven arrangements. Run the Funding-Fit Discovery
Can I estimate costs before I talk to anyone?
Yes. The tools on benefitra.com are free and do not require a call. They include the Health Plan Funding Simulator, the ICHRA and level-funded calculators with state benchmarks, the Premium Renewal Stress Test and state workers' compensation calculators. Each calculator states its assumptions, and where it uses an illustrative figure instead of a published rate, the page says so. Browse the planning tools
Does Benefitra help with workers' compensation?
Yes. Benefitra works on workers' compensation alongside health benefits, especially for blue-collar and construction employers. Rules differ by state: in four states (North Dakota, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming) employers buy coverage from a monopolistic state fund, while most other states use private insurers, and some also have a competitive state fund. Workers' compensation
Does a consultation cost anything?
No. A first consultation is free, by phone or Zoom, in a 30 or 60 minute slot. It helps to have your current plan details and most recent renewal notice, but they are not required. The team answers inquiries within one business day, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm Eastern. You can also call 857-255-9394 or email [email protected]. Book a consultation
Who reviews the information on this site?
Sam Newland, CFP, founder of Benefitra, reviews the insurance and benefits content. Benefitra's editorial policy explains how pages are sourced from primary sources such as the IRS, the Department of Labor, CMS and state agencies, and how corrections are handled. The content is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice, and not an offer of coverage. Editorial policy