Data Shows that Private Exchange Customers Overwhelmingly Select Different Levels of Benefits Than What Their Employers Had Offered Under Traditional Benefits Model

MINNEAPOLIS, May 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- New data from employees using Bloom Health's defined contribution private exchange shows how more choice and personalization through private exchanges results in many employees selecting benefit packages that are better aligned with their healthcare needs, risk tolerance, and financial flexibility.  

In 2012, 66 percent of Bloom Health's defined contribution private exchange customers opted to increase their take-home pay by choosing less rich coverage than they had prior to using the Bloom platform—when they had fewer choices and little, if any, decision support.  During the same time, 11 percent of Bloom's customers chose to invest in richer coverage than they previously had, and 23 percent chose benefit levels similar to what they already had.

Bloom customers made their benefit decisions with the help of a robust decision-support tool, driven by a proprietary survey and recommendation engine.

"After more than three years in the industry, our experience and data shows that when you give people the ability to make personal decisions about the benefits that best fit their needs, there is a real opportunity for savings and increased take-home pay for employees," said Bloom Health CEO Simeon Schindelman.  In fact, premium contributions for employees using the Bloom solution are 20 percent below the national average.

The employee savings are especially notable given that employees' contributions to health insurance premiums have grown 167 percent since 2000 (Kaiser Employer Health Benefits Survey, 2012), compared to wage growth of just 39 percent (Bureau of Labor Statistics) over the same period.

"When we give employees choice and control over their wage vs. coverage tradeoff, our data clearly shows that they overwhelmingly choose to increase take-home pay.  This could help reverse a decade-plus duration during which wages have been relatively stagnant, in large part due to the cost of health benefits," Bloom's Schindelman said.

For more information on Bloom Health's defined contribution private exchange platform, go to www.gobloomhealth.com. 

About Bloom Health

Bloom Health is a leader in the defined contribution health benefits marketplace, committed to assisting employers of all sizes move toward an employer-sponsored system that has effective cost predictability for employers and increased choice and personalization for employees. Bloom Health was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Minneapolis.

SOURCE Bloom Health