Strategic Radiology, a nationwide network of independent, private radiology practices, launched group captive SR Health on 1 January, in order to provide coverage for the shareholders and employees of its 32 independent private practice member groups.
Nine member groups with more than 2,000 covered lives are now receiving benefits under the plan, with more of the 32 member groups expected to be onboarded throughout 2023 when existing contracts expire.
In creating a self-funded captive insurance plan, owned by members, the coalition anticipates that members will achieve up to 30% or more savings on premiums, greater control of coverage options, and visibility into plan data.
“The cost of health insurance has become a pain point not just for private practice radiology, but for all employers in the US,” said Scott Bundy, chair at Strategic Radiology.
“Our practices came together, educated themselves on the options, and built an insurance captive program that will lower costs and improve flexibility for our member groups. In exercising an ownership mentality, Strategic Radiology member groups will reap significant cost savings and plan control.”
SR member groups will share risk in the captive layer and partner with vendors with the aim of significantly reducing overall costs.
The plan has been built to maximise value and control at the local individual practice level, minimise disruption of access to existing providers, and maintain economic fairness between high-claims and low-claims groups.
SR said that by leveraging scale and sharing a reasonable portion of risk, the participating groups have effectively eliminated third-party costs on all but the catastrophic portion of risk.
Adam Fogle, CEO of Quantum Radiology, noted that joining the group was an opportunity to assume control over a costly employment benefit and gain insight into expense trends.
“For years Quantum Radiology felt powerless as premiums for health insurance, our largest single overhead expense, marched higher,” he said.
“SR Health gives us an option to provide employees the exact same health benefits while curbing the growth of this major expense item. We retained the same provider choices and will receive quarterly reports on utilization. This level of transparency and control is something we never had with commercial health insurance.”
Captive Intelligence recently published a Long Read exploring how the rising costs of medical malpractice insurance for those working in the US healthcare industry is leading to greater captive utilisation.