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Data Access Is the Real Advantage in Benefits Strategy
For employers looking for greater control over healthcare costs, self-funding is often positioned as the answer. But self-funding alone isn’t a cost-containment strategy; the real advantage is access to data and what employers do with it.
Recent findings from the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions reinforce that point. Its 2026 Pulse of the Purchaser survey found that employers with complete access to medical claims data were more likely to take action across a range of hospital and high-cost claim strategies.
From Guesswork to Informed Decisions
Without meaningful claims and utilization data, benefits strategy can become a guessing game. Employers may know costs are rising, but not necessarily where the inefficiencies are, what’s driving them, or which investments have the greatest potential to generate meaningful ROI.
National Alliance data shows how much visibility can drive action. Compared with employers without complete claims data, those with access were more likely to:
- Evaluate networks on price and quality: 49% vs. 27%
- Negotiate or audit hospital prices: 47% vs. 29%
- Use hospital site-of-care strategies: 45% vs. 30%
- Direct contract with hospitals: 39% vs. 17%
- Use reference-based pricing: 31% vs. 10%
The biggest differences appear in strategies that require employers to compare prices, assess providers, negotiate arrangements, or challenge performance. The bottom line is that it’s difficult to manage what you can’t see.
Self-Funding Opens the Door
This is where the conversation around self-funding can miss the bigger picture. With a fully insured plan, an employer transfers the financial risk for claims to an insurance carrier. Depending on the carrier, plan, employer size, and applicable requirements, access to detailed claims information can vary.
When an employer self-funds at least a portion of its health plan, it assumes responsibility for paying those claims. That structure can provide greater access to the information needed to understand how healthcare dollars are being spent. Self-funding can open the door, and data provides the prescription, but employers still have to take action.
Put Resources Where They Can Make a Difference
Changing a benefits program takes time, energy, and capital. Most employers can't pursue every cost-management strategy at once, so data helps them decide where to focus.
It might uncover opportunities to steer employees toward higher-value sites of care, address unusually high provider costs, evaluate network performance, or implement targeted programs for specific conditions. Instead of investing broadly and hoping something works, employers can prioritize strategies based on what their own population is experiencing.
Self-funding isn't a magic bullet, and data isn't, either. But when employers have visibility into their healthcare spend (and the expertise to act on what they find), they're in a much stronger position to make every healthcare dollar work harder.
Additional Resources & Information
Thought Leadership
The Renewal Is Decided Long Before It Shows Up
A health plan renewal is not a once-a-year financial event; it’s the cumulative result of decisions made throughout the year. Employers that manage healthcare costs strategically use that time to identify emerging risks, act on cost drivers, and shape the outcome before the renewal ever arrives.
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