Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Berkley Accident and Health Celebrates 10 Years of Providing Employee Benefit Group Captives
November 6, 2018 – Hamilton Square, New Jersey – Berkley Accident and Health, a Berkley Company®, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of EmCap®, its employee benefit group captive solution. Berkley Accident and Health was one of the first in the industry to offer group captive programs designed to help small and midsize companies take better control of their health plans. Since the launch of the first program in December 2008, EmCap has grown to 30 different programs and has clients in 46 states. This year alone, more than 200 new clients have joined EmCap programs.
“Ten years ago, group captives were a game-changer because it has made self-funding possible for many small and midsize companies. We found that they knew all the advantages of self-funding, but lacked the size and scale to really make it work,” said Jim Hoitt, Senior Vice President, Captive Division. “That’s where group captives really excel – they give employers the greater size and stability needed to put self-funding within reach.”
In 2008, employee benefit group captives were a brand new concept. They turned out to be very appealing to employers, mirroring current trends toward greater data transparency and cost control. Today, group captives are a major movement within the self-funding industry.
At its core, EmCap is a funding strategy that enables small and midsize companies to self-fund their employee health plans like large companies do. Self-funding offers many benefits, but smaller self-funded groups can find annual budgeting a challenge, because claim costs can be hard to predict. In an EmCap program, multiple employers join together to share claims and create a larger, more diverse risk pool. This can smooth year-to-year fluctuations and allows EmCap to act like a “shock absorber” to reduce the impact of larger claims on individual employers. Additionally, if claims are lower than expected, the captive program can return the savings back to its members.
“It’s an honor to celebrate this milestone,” said Christopher Brown, President and CEO. “We are particularly grateful to our brokers, consultants, and member companies that have put their trust in us and contributed to EmCap’s tremendous growth and success.” A large part of that success is the loyalty of its members, who view EmCap as a long-term partnership. Once companies join, they overwhelmingly stay – EmCap’s five-year member retention rate is 90%. EmCap is distributed only through a limited network of credentialed brokers, each of whom has a deep understanding of captives.
Looking forward to the next 10 years, Berkley Accident and Health sees a bright future and continued expansion for employee benefit group captives. To accommodate EmCap’s growth, the company has added resources, including program and account managers, specialized underwriters, and business development staff. This increased support will help to position Berkley Accident and Health well for another decade of serving the marketplace.
About Berkley Accident and Health
Berkley Accident and Health is a member company of Berkley that provides an innovative portfolio of accident and health insurance products. It offers four categories of products: Employer Stop Loss, Group Captives, Managed Care (including HMO Reinsurance and Provider Excess), and Specialty Accident. The company underwrites Stop Loss coverage through Berkley Life and Health Insurance Company, rated A+
(Superior) by A.M. Best. W. R. Berkley Corporation is a Fortune 500® company. For more information, please visit BerkleyAH.com.
Berkley Accident and Health
2445 Kuser Road, Suite 201
Hamilton Square, NJ 08690
(609) 584-6990
