How CCFBank Lowered Healthcare Costs and Improved Benefits Through Self-Funding

 

CCFBank is a financial services provider with locations across Wisconsin and Minnesota. Like many employers, the organization spent years navigating the familiar cycle of fully insured health plans: rising premiums, limited transparency, and little ability to influence the real drivers of healthcare costs.

Before becoming self-funded, CCFBank’s annual healthcare renewals increased by double digits, despite offering multiple plan options and investing in employee wellness. The organization wasn’t doing anything “wrong.” It simply lacked the tools to do anything differently.

Rather than accepting another year of unpredictable increases, CCFBank chose a different path. In 2023, the organization transitioned to a self-funded health plan paired with a tiered benefit design, targeted cost-containment programs, and a strong focus on employee education.

The result: stabilized costs, improved benefits, and a clearer path to high-value care for employees.

In 2025, CCFBank shared its experience at The Alliance’s Summer Benefit Design Workshops, offering a real-world example of how employers can regain control of their health benefits strategy.

The Challenge: Rising Premiums & Limited Flexibility

From 2020 to 2023, CCFBank experienced consistent and sometimes steep renewal increases under a fully insured model, including a 15.5% increase in one year alone.

Despite offering multiple plan options and a wellness program, the organization had little visibility into claims data and limited flexibility to change their benefit plan design and how care was accessed or paid for.

“The fully insured model gave us no room to customize. We needed more transparency and flexibility,” said Ali Bell, SVP of Human Resources at CCFBank. The organization knew it needed a more sustainable path forward, both financially and for the health of its employees.

Takeaway for employers:

If you can’t see your claims data or adjust your plan design, you’re limited to reacting to renewal increases. Self-funding allows you to see your claims data and design benefit plans that prevent increasing costs.

The Solution: Self-Funding

In 2023, CCFBank transitioned to a self-funded health plan, gaining direct insight into claims and the ability to design benefits around value, not just premiums.

CCFBank implemented a self-funded plan using The Alliance network for their Wisconsin employees, America’s PPO for their Minnesota employees, and First Health as a national wrap network.

This shift generated nearly $500,000 in savings within the first year, allowing CCFBank to reinvest in benefits rather than absorbed by premium increases.

Takeaway for employers:

Self-funding allows employers to gain more control, visibility, and flexibility of their benefits.

Use Tiered Networks to Guide Employees to High-Value Care

In Wisconsin, CCFBank implemented The Alliance’s customizable tiered network.

• Tier 1: Lowest deductible for The Alliance’s Preferred-Value Providers who deliver great care at lower costs
• Tier 2: Higher deductible for other in-network providers
• Tier 3: Highest deductible for out-of-network providers

Currently, Minnesota employees access an in-network/out-of-network structure while CCFBank explores future tiering options.

Takeaway for employers:

Tiered networks preserve choice while financially rewarding smarter healthcare decisions.

Pair Smart Plan Design with Strong Employee Education

CCFBank recognized that strong plan design alone isn’t enough; employees need to know how to use it. CCFBank’s enhanced employee engagement strategy includes:

• Monthly benefits newsletters
• New hire benefits onboarding
• 1:1 colleague meetings
• MyAdvocate360 care navigation
• Payroll bonuses tied to using Preferred-Value Providers/making smart healthcare choices.

Takeaway for employers:

Education and care navigation are essential. Employees make better decisions when they know their options and are supported to make cost effective decisions.

Layer in High-Value Cost-Containment Programs

To address key cost drivers, CCFBank added targeted programs that complement their self-funded plan, including a Direct Primary Care (DPC) Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) and a dedicated wellness program (HealthCheck360). These programs help manage utilization, improve preventive care, and address costs before they escalate.

Takeaway for employers:

Layering programs strategically delivers faster impact than relying on benefit plan design alone.

Measurable Results: Lower Costs, Stronger Benefits

The move to self-funding and strategic benefit enhancements delivered immediate and significant results.

Claims Cost Comparison

Year	Model	Per-Member-Per-Month (PMPM) Costs*	Cost Per-Employee-Per-Year (PEPY) Costs**
2022	Fully insured	$677.79	$17,532
2023	Self-funded	$373.05	$15,126
2024	Self-funded	$446.71	$17,177
2025	Self-funded	$626.14	$17,464

*PMPM reflects medical and pharmacy claims costs and does not include administrative fees.
**PEPY includes network fees, Healthcare Reimbursement Account (HSA) fees, stop loss premium, and administrative and consulting fees.

Even with national medical inflation rising sharply, CCFBank limited their annual increases to approximately 3.2%, a dramatic improvement from the 16% and 12.5% increases they saw under the fully insured model.

Savings with The Alliance Network

• PMPM remained stable year-over-year
• Network savings increased 14.4% in 2024
• Tier 1 utilization increased
• Higher steerage to Preferred-Value Providers

“With The Alliance, we finally have transparency and control over our healthcare costs. It’s a partnership that pays off every year,” said Bell.

Looking Ahead: A Continuous Improvement Roadmap

CCFBank isn’t stopping here. Their future initiatives include:

• Outcomes-based wellness with biometric incentives
• Tier 1 incentive enhancements
• Tiered plan options for Minnesota employees
• Family Advantage opt-out program
• Federal and state program integrations
• Medicare education
• COBRA alternatives

This long-term view ensures CCFBank stays ahead of costs while supporting the health of their employees.

What Other Employers Can Learn from CCFBank

CCFBank’s journey offers an actionable roadmap for employers:

	Transition to Self-Funding Gain visibility into claims and the ability to customize your plan to manage costs proactively.
	Implement Tiered Networks Encourage the use of high-value healthcare without limiting employee choice.
	Invest in Employee Education & Care Navigation Help employees understand how to use their benefit effectively.
	Add Targeted Cost-Containment Programs Direct Primary Care (DPC), Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) optimization and innovative pharmacy solutions can deliver immediate savings.
	Treat Benefits as a Multi-Year Strategy The biggest savings come from cumulative, year-over-year improvements.

Self-Funding with The Alliance

CCFBank’s transformation demonstrates what’s possible when employers take control of their healthcare strategy. By moving to self-funding, partnering with The Alliance, and putting employees at the center of benefit design, they achieved:

• Meaningful cost savings
• Predictable, sustainable trends
• Better access to high-value care
• More engaged and supported employees

This isn’t a one-off success; it’s a model other employers can follow. And The Alliance is built to help make it happen. Schedule a free consultation with us to learn how self-funding with The Alliance could support your organization’s long-term health benefits strategy.