In the first part of this two-part blog, I recommended a number of important items to keep in mind as you select a stop loss carrier. Additionally, here are a few other things you will want to look for, or ask about, when selecting a stop loss carrier. While this is not an exhaustive list, these are some of the most frequent items I have seen that cause issues or gaps in coverage.

With the rising cost of health insurance and the need to provide coverage to employees, we have noticed many employers taking advantage of becoming self-insured. While being self-insured isn’t for everyone, there are definite advantages, such as the possibility of saving money – especially if you have a healthy staff. But self-insured employer groups typically can only self-insure to a certain level. In other words, they can only absorb so much of the risk associated with health care cost. Stop-loss insurance is an insurance product that provides financial protection against the high cost of catastrophic health insurance claims. Understanding the different types of stop-loss is one of the first steps in knowing if self-funding the right solution for your group.