Some employees now pay nothing for coverage, after Arts for Learning moved off its Kaiser plan
Background
Arts for Learning is a small nonprofit that has been growing fast, so it reviews its benefits every year. The organization was on a Kaiser group plan, and employees were not happy with it. Complaints centered on mental health resources and on which doctors they could see. The broker running the plan was also hard to reach. Then the 2025 renewal landed. Staying with Kaiser on a large group plan would have cost more than $370,000 a year, and the other proposal the broker brought back was not competitive.
Approach
Facing high expenses for unsatisfactory coverage, a team member brought the idea of an employee health budget as an option. Nobody there had used one before. Lisa, who runs benefits for Arts for Learning, worked with the Thatch team to set it up, and Arts for Learning moved off the group plan in 2024. The employee health budgets were built around each employee's age and zip code, which opened up about 40 plan options. Kaiser stayed available for the employees who wanted it, and Thatch offered broker consultations during open enrollment for people who wanted help choosing.
Outcome
Several employees now pay nothing for their medical coverage, because they picked plans that cost less than their employee health budget. Most of the others pay a similar amount to what they paid before. Participation held steady through the 2025 open enrollment, and Lisa saw additional employees sign up for 2026. Some of them compared the Thatch options against a spouse's plan and chose Thatch. On the admin side, open enrollment no longer runs on paper forms or on enrollment packets routed through a broker. Employees who need a mid-year change now start it themselves in the platform, which takes those steps off Lisa's team.
💬 “Our people really love options [for their health benefits] and being able to pick and choose.” — Lisa Pennell, People Operations Manager, Arts for Learning
