What began as a non-medical benefits consolidation unlocked opportunities across the entire benefits program. Through strategic analysis, this transformation delivered $2.5M in total savings spanning pharmacy, stop-loss, and more.
Key Results
The Challenge
A leading media conglomerate with approximately 4,200 employees spread across 40 states partnered with Cottingham & Butler to optimize their complex benefits strategy. Like many growing businesses, they faced an inefficient benefits structure spanning multiple states, carriers, and employee classes, creating administrative burdens and missed cost-saving opportunities.
Why They Need Change
Multiple acquisitions led to 10+ carriers and 30 employee classes
Disability claims management stretched across 40 states
Union contracts required separate benefits structures
Multiple carriers limited cost-saving opportunities
State-by-state compliance taxed HR resources
The Cottingham & Butler Approach
Streamlining Non-Medical Benefits
While others simply marketed rates we held weekly strategic sessions with HR, Legal, and the CFO to understand every nuance of their benefits structure. This comprehensive discovery led to a consolidated program that delivered both savings and enhanced coverage.
Consolidated 10+ carriers into single-carrier solution
Saved over $200,000 on non-medical benefits package
Reduced projected renewal increase by 19%, while enhancing benefits
Optimizing Risk Management
Our deep-dive discovery process identified where manual processes and compliance burdens create unnecessary costs and strain HR resources. For this client, we transformed their benefits administration into a streamlined, outsourced solution that drove both efficiency and compliance.
Reduced administrative burden by automating disability claims processing
Implemented multi-state compliance tracking system to minimize risk exposure
Enhancing Union Negotiations
Our strategic approach leverages data-modeling tools to find opportunities for benefits alignment and long-term efficiency gains. For this client, we partnered with Human Resources to create a path forward for systematically integrating diverse union and corporate benefits programs.
Provided Union-specific cost-impact analysis for HR negotiations
Developed phased approach to consolidate 4 separate policies
Created framework for future contract negotiations
Unlocking Hidden Savings
Our thorough discovery process digs deeper than traditional benefits reviews to uncover missed opportunities and cost recovery potential. For this client, comprehensive analysis of their stop-loss and pharmacy programs revealed substantial savings that previous partners had overlooked.
Recovered nearly $1 million in denied stop-loss reimbursements
Implemented prescription changes, projecting an additional $1 million in savings
Ready to revolutionize your HR processes? Contact us today to begin your journey!