Commercial Health Plan Cost Calculator

Plan costs faster for teams and brokers. Adjust employees, dependents, and contribution splits instantly today. See annual totals, per-member costs, and savings scenarios clearly.

White theme • Single page • Downloads included
Calculator Inputs
Large screens show three columns, smaller screens adjust automatically.
Reset
Plan setup
Used only for display formatting.
Changes how premiums vs claims are budgeted.
Use bundle if you have a family rate.
Applies to enrolled counts for planning.
Membership & premiums

Per-member premiums can be carrier or internal rates.
Bundle uses families count and family premium.
Contributions, claims, and fees
Optional employer contribution outside premiums.

Employee
Spouse
Child
Use underwriting estimates or historical allowed costs.

Common for insured plans.
Used for self/level funding.
Volatility loading for self-funded.
Level-funded claim cushion.
Tip: Start with premiums for insured, or claims + stop-loss for funded plans.
Formula used
This tool uses transparent planning math so you can audit each step.
  • Adjusted enrollment: count × participation
  • Monthly premium: sum of member premiums (or family bundles)
  • Premium adjustments: (1 − wellness%) × (1 + tobacco%)
  • Employer premium share: employee rate × ER% plus dependent rates × Dep%
  • Expected out-of-pocket per member:
    min(OOPmax, deductible + (1−planShare)×max(0, allowed−deductible) + copay×visits)
  • Plan paid claims: allowed − employee OOP
  • Funding total:
    Fully insured: ER premiums + taxes + admin + broker + HRA/HSA
    Level-funded: plan claims + corridor + stop-loss + admin + broker + HRA/HSA
    Self-funded: plan claims×(1+risk) + stop-loss + admin + broker + HRA/HSA
Important
Real plan designs include tiers, networks, and pharmacy. Use this output as a starting point for budgeting and comparisons.
How to use this calculator
  1. Pick a funding model that matches your plan structure.
  2. Enter enrolled counts and an estimated participation rate.
  3. Add monthly premiums, or set a family bundle premium.
  4. Set employer contribution percentages for budgeting.
  5. Enter allowed claims estimates for funded comparisons.
  6. Review fees, discounts, and trend for next year.
  7. Submit to see results above the form, then download.
What to validate before using results
  • Confirm premium rates match your quote or renewal grid.
  • Use actual claims distributions, not only averages, when possible.
  • Verify stop-loss rates, corridors, and admin contracts.
  • Check contribution rules for different employee classes.
Example data table
Illustrative only. Replace with your own rates and claims.
Scenario Funding Members Annual premium Employer annual Total PMPM
Plan A Fully insured 140 USD 1,950,000.00 USD 1,320,000.00 USD 1,470.24
Plan B Level-funded 140 USD 1,720,000.00 USD 1,245,000.00 USD 1,388.10
Plan C Self-funded 140 USD 1,520,000.00 USD 1,180,000.00 USD 1,316.67
Tip: Use PMPM for comparing plans across different group sizes.

Enrollment assumptions and participation

Enrollment drives every per-member metric. Using the default scenario of 75 employees, 25 spouses, and 40 children with 90% participation, the model plans for 68 employees, 22 spouses, and 36 children, or 126 members. Adjust participation to stress-test open enrollment outcomes and eligibility changes. If you bundle families, set family counts carefully to avoid double-counting dependents. Use member counts to align quotes with payroll deductions.

Premium budgeting and contribution strategy

Monthly premiums are summed by covered lives, then adjusted for wellness discounts and tobacco surcharges. In the example, per-member premiums of 520, 410, and 220 produce 52,300 monthly before adjustments. A 3% wellness discount lowers this to 50,731. Employer contributions of 80% for employees and 60% for dependents allocate about 37,298 monthly to the employer and 13,433 to employees. Set contributions to match budgets and goals.

Claims and cost sharing estimation

Allowed claims represent total negotiated medical spend before member cost sharing. With allowed assumptions of 4,200 per employee, 5,200 per spouse, and 2,600 per child, annual allowed claims estimate 493,600. The calculator approximates out-of-pocket using deductible, coinsurance, copays, and the out-of-pocket maximum. With a 1,500 deductible, 80% plan share, 25 copay, and 2.5 visits, estimated out-of-pocket is about 2,046 per member. Review pharmacy carve-outs separately for better precision.

Fees, taxes, and funding design

Administrative and broker fees are modeled per employee per month, supporting quick scenario testing. For insured plans, premium taxes and fees apply as a percentage of premium. For funded arrangements, stop-loss replaces taxes, and optional risk margin or corridor loads help budget volatility. In the example insured case, annual admin and broker fees total 29,376 and taxes add about 15,219. Validate contracts for fees and caps.

Benchmark views and trend projection

PMPM converts totals into a comparable metric across group sizes. In the example, combined annual cost is about 931,526, which equals roughly 616 PMPM. Employer-only cost is about 513,000, or 339 PMPM. Use the trend input to estimate next-year budgets; at 5% trend, the combined total projects to about 978,102. Track results by tier to compare deductibles versus premiums. Export CSV to share scenarios internally.

FAQs
Q1. What does “allowed claims” mean in this model?

Allowed claims are the total negotiated medical costs before member cost sharing. They help estimate expected plan-paid claims for funded budgeting, and they also support comparing tiers with different deductibles and copays.

Q2. How is employee out-of-pocket estimated?

It uses a simple expected-value approach: deductible plus member coinsurance on remaining allowed spend, capped by the out-of-pocket maximum, then adds copays times average visits. It is a planning proxy, not a distribution model.

Q3. When should I choose family bundle pricing?

Use bundle pricing when your carrier quote provides a family rate and you can estimate the number of enrolled families. The calculator applies the family premium to that count and employee premium to remaining employee-only enrollments.

Q4. Why do taxes appear only for insured plans?

Premium taxes and certain state fees typically apply to insured premiums. Funded plans usually replace those with stop-loss premiums and administrative fees. Confirm local rules and carrier invoice details for your specific market.

Q5. What is the corridor used for in level-funded budgets?

A corridor is a cushion above expected plan-paid claims to reduce the chance of deficit in a level-funded arrangement. It is modeled as a percentage of expected plan-paid claims and can be aligned to contract terms.

Q6. How should I use the trend input?

Trend is a straight-line projection applied to annual totals to estimate next-year budgets. Use a conservative value if you expect utilization or unit costs to rise, and adjust it after reviewing renewal factors and claims experience.

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