Five questions with Steve Wolin, Gravie Chief Executive Officer

1. What do you see as the biggest obstacles to small and midsize firms as they struggle to offer health benefits that are affordable to both the business and its employees, and how is Gravie working to address these challenges?

Frankly, I just don’t think any of the large, national health plans are even thinking about smaller businesses. Incumbent group insurance players have tuned their business model and offerings to satisfy the needs of large company HR departments. They rely on bland offerings lacking in innovation that meet the basic needs of their clients, who supplement their offerings with a series of programs to drive down the cost of care. Incumbents then apply these plan concepts to small employers. Unfortunately, that leaves small and midsize employers with plans that have limited employee appeal, high premiums, and few tools to mitigate cost trend. The result? Employees at SMBs pay far more in premiums than those working at large firms. 

Gravie’s approach is entirely different. We bring two compelling options for small and midsized companies. Our level-funded Comfort® plan was built from the ground up with the consumer in mind, not adapted from the plans built to serve large corporate HR departments. It reduces barriers for employees thus encouraging them to seek the care that keeps them healthy and their costs from spiraling out of control while allowing the smaller employer to share in the advantages of their self-insured peers.

2. These aren’t new problems that SMBs have been facing. Why does Gravie think now is the time to finally make meaningful change in this market?

Well, first I don’t think we have a choice. Healthcare costs are nearing their breaking point with employers and employees (and the government!), and that is especially true of small and midsize businesses.  In the last 10 years alone, employees of small businesses have seen their premiums double. Small businesses employ more than 60 million Americans, and finding a way for these companies to manage their soaring healthcare costs is now an imperative for the health of the overall economy. 

At the same time, there are environmental factors that make this a unique moment of opportunity, such as the expansion of ICHRAs and federal regulations and state legislation that make it easier for employers to lean into defined contribution benefit models. And perhaps most importantly, we’re a mission-oriented company, and our mission is to design health plans that actually benefit SMBs. If we don’t do this–and do it well–then who will?

3. The industry has historically low customer satisfaction. Meanwhile, Gravie’s customer satisfaction scores are 10-15 points higher than the rest of the industry. What is Gravie doing to separate itself from others in delighting customers?

Gravie takes a multi-pronged approach to drive customer satisfaction. It starts with the plan design of Comfort, which largely eliminates barriers to access to care like copays and deductibles. It’s a unique feeling to leave a medical appointment without having to spend a penny, and that’s what our members regularly experience,  But we know that there are costs not fully covered by the health plan, and so we built Gravie Pay, which allows our members to finance their out-of-pocket expenses with their zero-interest Gravie Pay card. Again, something consumers are not accustomed to and are relieved to discover is included in their health plan. And then you take those solutions and you surround them with empathetic and accessible support through our Gravie Care advisors and advocates. All of this taken together really represents a huge paradigm shift, and our members know that and it shows up in our satisfaction scores.

4. Leaning into your recent experiences at Oscar Health, what lessons have you learned from reimagining the individual insurance market that you can apply to Gravie’s business and products in the SMB market?

Consumers want to eliminate barriers when it comes to their healthcare, whether they get coverage in the individual or group market. They don’t want us to stand between them and their doctors, and they don’t want the cost of maintaining good health to affect their overall fiscal health. At Oscar, we saw how individuals delayed care–as many as 50% of consumers in the individual market don’t even have a primary care provider–and we know that only leads to more problems. So I come to Gravie with that mindset: let’s knock down these barriers to care.  Our Comfort plan and Gravie ICHRA both do just that.

5. Why should benefits consultants pay close attention to Gravie and consider enrolling their clients in one of our health plans?

Employers are hungry for new solutions – especially in the SMB market. The same-old just doesn’t work for them anymore. Many are seeing year-over-year increases of 20% or more in healthcare costs and are in desperate need of a new solution. Gravie Comfort and ICHRA give consultants fresh alternatives for clients vs. their same roster of health plans. That’s why so many brokers across the country are adding Gravie to their toolkit. If you’re not talking about Gravie with your clients, someone else is. We’re excited to work with you and your clients to head in a new direction; together we can change the game.