Insurers pitch employers on alternative health plans to save costs

Some very big health insurance companies and a bevy of startups are striving to win over employers vexed by rising health benefit costs with new plan designs.

Alternative health plans such as variable copayment plans that favor certain in-network providers and individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements, better known as ICHRAs, may appeal to businesses that expect healthcare costs to continue accelerating and are reconsidering their employee benefits. A significant share of employers has adopted these models already.

UnitedHealth Group subsidiary UnitedHealthcare — the insurance market leader — CVS Health subsidiary Aetna and Cigna offer these kinds of plans alongside their traditional policies. Smaller insurers are trying to carve out a niche in a market that covers 165 million people.

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