Marissa Plescia , 2025-05-01 22:13:00
After consistently experiencing double-digit annual increases in healthcare costs with traditional health insurance, pest control company Rollins knew it had to do things differently for its employees, according to Jamie Benton, vice president of human resources at the company.
“We did plan design. We went to the Mercer Exchange. We did all that stuff. And then it just would reduce costs for a year, and then they would come right back up,” he said in a recent interview at the Business Group on Health conference.
So in January 2023, the employer began working with Imagine360, an alternative health plan for self-funded employers. And according to an independent analysis released last week, the company is getting results for Rollins. The analysis by Axene Health Partners found that Imagine360 achieved 19% savings, or $7.7 million annually, compared to traditional health plans for Rollins. It also received a satisfaction score of 90% and a 99% claims acceptance rate.
The report analyzed Rollins’ claims data from 2023 and compared it to Axene Health Partners’ benchmark data, which includes nearly $2 billion of healthcare claims across millions of members enrolled in commercial health plans.
How did Imagine360 achieve these results? The company offers plan design assistance and administration. It contracts with top providers and health systems and provides one-on-one member support for care and billing issues.
In addition, it uses a reference-based pricing model to pay claims. In this model, Imagine360 uses a benchmark like what Medicare pays for the service or the actual cost of the procedure reported by the healthcare facility, and then adds profit on top of that reference price. This compares to the traditional Preferred Provider Organization pricing model used by insurers, in which costs are generally inflated. In fact, a recent study from RAND found that employers are paying 254% of what Medicare pays for the same services at the same hospitals.
Rollins has about 20,000 employees across 47 states. The employees have a choice between Imagine360 or a traditional Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan. In 2023, 46% of its employees were enrolled in Imagine360, and in 2024, that enrollment rose to 51%. With the savings it has received from Imagine360, the company has been able to reinvest in its employees’ health, such as by offering free primary care.
Benton expects that enrollment in Imagine360 will continue to increase in the future. The ones who have been the most hesitant to move away from traditional insurance have been the more high-cost claimants. However, these are the members who would benefit the most from Imagine360 because of the reference-based pricing model, Benton declared.
“We have not done really well with our cancer patients because they fear changing doctors,” he said. “We’ve got to do a better job of targeting them, to have the conversation to say, ‘Look, your doctors are going to be there. There’s going to be this low disruption. All it’s going to do is charge you less money, and in turn, charge us less money, and you get to save on the premiums.’”
The analysis comes as employers are facing drastic increases in healthcare costs. PwC predicted an 8% increase in 2025, the highest rate in 13 years.
Because of these cost increases, more and more employers are pursuing alternative health plans and pharmacy benefit managers, said Ellen Kelsay, president and CEO of Business Group on Health, in an interview at the conference. She listed Imagine360, Centivo, Surest, Capital Rx and Navitus as examples.
Imagine360 is noticing this shift. The company has nearly 1,000 clients and hopes to see double-digit growth over the next several years, according to Chris Cigarran, chief commercial officer of Imagine360. He noted that some employers are interested in moving to an alternative health plan, but want to start with an independent third-party administrator and still use the traditional carrier network, which Imagine360 offers as a transition period.
“We’re really trying to make it simple for employers to make the switch,” Cigarran said in an interview. “A lot of consultants and brokers have perpetuated a myth that there’s not another option. We’ve got a real option.”
Picture: Feodora Chiosea, Getty Images
