2023 brought a long-requested feature, continued data growth, and the return of more predictable benefits planning after years of pandemic disruption. Here's how the year shaped up.
What We Shipped
Stop-loss benchmarking — After years of requests, we launched stop-loss benchmarking for self-funded employers. Specific deductibles, attachment points, rate-per-employee, laser provisions, aggregate coverage—all benchmarkable against verified peer data.
Enhanced reporting exports — New export formats, better formatting, more customization options. Getting data out of Bnchmrk and into client presentations got easier.
Expanded ancillary benchmarking — We deepened our life, STD, and LTD data, giving you more robust comparisons for the full benefits package.
By the Numbers
- Dataset crossed 54,000 verified plans
- Over 8,500 employers now benchmarked
- Stop-loss benchmarking launched with 1,000+ self-funded plans
- All 50 states with meaningful data density
Self-Funding Growth
The shift toward self-funding continued and even accelerated. Mid-size employers who'd never considered self-funding started exploring it as a way to gain cost visibility and control. Our stop-loss benchmarking launch was timed to meet this demand.
Understanding stop-loss isn't optional for self-funded employers. Getting the specific deductible wrong can mean tens of thousands in unnecessary costs—or unexpected exposure. Now there's data to guide those decisions.
The Cost Conversation
Healthcare costs returned to more predictable growth patterns this year, but "predictable" doesn't mean "comfortable." Employers faced steady increases driven by provider rate pressure, specialty pharmacy growth, and sustained mental health utilization.
The consultants we work with told us the conversations shifted from "what happened during COVID" to "what's sustainable long-term." Benefits strategy is back to being about multi-year planning rather than crisis response.
Looking Ahead to 2024
We're energized heading into our ninth year. The roadmap includes plan scoring (a single number to quantify plan competitiveness), contribution modeling enhancements, and continued expansion of stop-loss data.
The foundation is strong. The data is deep. Now we're focused on making it even more actionable.
Thank you for continuing to trust Bnchmrk.
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