Throughout its almost 35-year history, two things have defined HRPro/BenePro – exceptional client service and innovation.
Among its earlier innovations:
- One of the first companies to take alternative funding arrangements tosmall groups of less than 200 people.
- One of the first companies to take cafeteria plans to smaller companies.
- One of the first companies to utilize a debit card for flexible spending accounts.
While it is difficult to imagine a market without any of these, HRPro/BenePro helped create new categories when they first dived into them.
More recently, they have been focused on two newer strategies that have enabled clients to realize significant cost savings, new prescription drug delivery systems and the use of captive coalitions for clients.
HRPro/BenePro was one of the first companies to realize the significance of using alternative delivery methods for prescription drugs. In 2009 they were one of the first companies to work with Canadian pharmacies to deliver mail-order drugs to the U.S. at costs 30-80% less than what American pharmacies could deliver.
In more recent years, they also began to assist clients in getting manufacturer’s rebates for high-end scrips. That led to the creation of their “Integrated RX” delivery system, which pulled together both the Canadian option and the manufacturer’s assistance program to produce costs that were as much as 50% below what using a simple prescription drug card could produce through a PBM.
The other significant innovation was putting together a captive reinsurer that refunds part of the reinsurance premium based on the performance of an entire coalition. To make this highly effective, they utilize a “population health manager” to get a deeper insight into what is driving claims and take appropriate action to mitigate those costs in the longer term.
Both the “Integrated RX” program and the coalitions created for clients have meant savings that are typically 20-25% below the norm for most clients. Indeed, one of their largest clients has not seen an increase in their costs in ten years!
Finally, the very existence of one organization that manages both HR and benefits as a small company is truly unique. Kristopher Powell, Founder and CEO, remarked, “That we are aware of, there are no other companies that fit our space in the state of Michigan. Though larger national organizations do much of the same work, no smaller company under $10M in revenue exists within the state of Michigan.”
What’s next for HRPro/BenePro? While it is hard to say, it’s easy to guess they are already at work on it!
