Every, the all-in-one back office for startups and small businesses, launched Every Benefits, a new model for health benefits that pairs fully insured plans with employer-funded reimbursement arrangements to lower employer costs without reducing employee experience. Administering this kind of arrangement has been operationally out of reach for most startups and small businesses, until now. Every is the first platform built to bring an HRA provider, benefits administration, insurance brokerage, and payroll together as one system.
Every Benefits can reduce startup health insurance costs by up to 12%, based on a typical 25-employee company, while maintaining the same carriers, networks, and overall employee experience. For example, a 25-person company could save approximately $31,000 in a typical year, while a 100-employee company could see savings of approximately $125,000 annually.
The Problem Every Benefits Solves
Health insurance premiums have climbed 24% over the last five years, according to KFF’s Employer Health Benefits Survey. The average 25-person startup on a Platinum PPO is now spending more than $261,000 a year on a benefit most of its employees barely use. Yet founders renew every year, because cutting benefits isn’t a option. Nine out of ten employers say benefits are the single most important lever for attracting and retaining talent after salary.
The math is broken. Insurance carriers charge extremely high costs for premium benefit plans, regardless of whether that level of coverage is actually used by employees. Founders pay the full bill whether anyone visits a doctor or not. The average employee never comes close to hitting their deductible.
How Every Benefits Works
Every Benefits flips the model. Employers choose a lower-premium plan—such as a Gold or Silver option and pair it with an employer-funded reimbursement arrangement designed to cover employees’ out-of-pocket costs, including the deductible. Employees enroll in the plan and are reimbursed for eligible expenses, effectively reducing their upfront costs to $0 in many cases.
As a result, a Silver plan can feel similar to a Gold plan, and a Gold plan can feel similar to a Platinum plan. Employees keep the same carrier and the same in-network experience, while employers avoid paying higher premiums upfront. Because reimbursements are paid only when expenses are incurred, unused amounts are simply never spent.
For a 25-person company with average characteristics, this reduces annual benefits spend from approximately $261,000 to $230,000—about $31,000 in a typical year.
- 50 employees: approximately $62,000 in typical-year savings
- 100 employees: approximately $125,000 in typical-year savings
- Average savings: up to 12% on health benefits spend
Employees keep a $0 effective deductible experience, while employers avoid paying higher premiums to cover out-of-pocket costs upfront.
Savings figures are based on a 25-employee company on a small group, fully insured Platinum PPO. Actual savings depend on plan selection and utilization and may vary. Every Benefits is available in select states; see every.io for current availability.
Why Only Every Can Run This
Administering this kind of arrangement requires insurance, reimbursement, payroll, and banking to operate as a single system. In a typical setup, a company would need to engage a broker, a benefits administration platform, a payroll provider, an HRA provider, and a bank or card issuer separately.
Every is a licensed insurance broker, a benefits administration platform, a payroll provider, and a banking partner—all built on one platform. One vendor relationship, not five. Every Benefits is what gets built when one company owns the whole stack.
The full native benefits suite includes health, dental, vision, FSA, dependent care FSA, and commuter benefits. One platform, not multiple vendors.
Quotes
“Every founder I talk to is frustrated with their benefits renewal,” said Rajeev Behera, co-founder and CEO of Every. “They know they’re paying for more coverage than their team typically uses. They know premiums keep going up, but the product they are buying hasn’t improved. But there is no alternative – cheaper coverage will upset your employees. We built Every Benefits so owners never have to make that trade again. Same carrier. Same network. You just stop paying for coverage your team isn’t using.”
“This is the kind of product you can only build if you’ve already built the rest of the back office,” said Barry Peterson, co-founder and CTO of Every. “Payroll, banking, and benefits running as one system is what makes the model work. It’s also what makes it defensible.”
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