Hendry Marine Industries. 23 cents on every dollar billed.

How Hendry Marine Industries, a 300-employee Tampa shipyard, built a self-funded plan that paid $11.4 million on $50.4 million in claims billed over five years.

Client: Hendry Marine Industries
Industry: Shipbuilding and repair
Employees: About 300
Plan funding: Self-funded with reference-based pricing since 2017

77%below billed charges across $50.4M in claims over five yearsHendry Marine panel, Business of Benefits Episode 82

123%of Medicare, the plan’s effective payment rateHendry Marine panel, Business of Benefits Episode 82

$15,000settled on 352 balance bills that started at $2.1MHendry Marine panel, Business of Benefits Episode 82

30%lower pharmacy spend right after a PBM changeHendry Marine panel, Business of Benefits Episode 82

Measured over five years of the plan, about 39,700 claims, including years before Ethos became the plan’s fiduciary advisor. Billed and paid amounts are totals across all claims. The effective rate compares what the plan paid with Medicare rates for the same services. The balance bill figure is the total settled amount, under $15,000.

Hendry Marine Industries runs a shipyard at the Port of Tampa, with about 300 employees on a single site, many of them men in their late 40s and 50s.

The starting point.

In 2017, Hendry moved to a self-funded health plan built around reference-based pricing. Its HR director at the time, Stephanie Porrino, didn’t believe it at first. So she tested it: she took one employee’s explanation of benefits and ran it through reference-based pricing to see what the plan would have paid.

One change at a time.

Hendry didn’t change everything at once. Over nearly a decade, it made one deliberate, data-driven change after another:

A PBM change that cut pharmacy spending by 30% right away.
A dependent eligibility audit that removed more than 30 people who didn’t qualify for coverage.
An on-site primary care clinic and dermatology access, added after claims data showed gaps in preventive care.
A move to a fiduciary advisor, when Hendry changed brokers and brought on Ethos Benefits.

The numbers.

Over five years
Claims	About 39,700
Billed to the plan	$50.4 million
Paid by the plan	$11.4 million
Average reduction from billed charges	77%
Effective rate	123% of Medicare

The balance bills.

Over five years, providers sent 352 balance bills totaling about $2.1 million in initial charges. All of them were settled for less than $15,000 in total. A plan that never sees a balance bill is usually paying inflated invoices in full. A plan that sees them, and settles them, is pricing its claims.

Where Ethos fits.

Ethos Benefits became Hendry’s fiduciary advisor in 2025. The five years of results above come from the plan Hendry built and ran before then, and Ethos Benefits now advises that plan as a fiduciary.

Learn more about cost containment and reference-based pricing, claims and eligibility audits and pharmacy and PBM.

Figures as published by Ethos Benefits from the Business of Benefits Episode 82 panel, with Hendry Marine Industries’ participation.

"I said there is absolutely no way, you guys are nuts, and it sounds too good to be true. So I decided that I needed to learn. We took an EOB from one of my employees, ran it through what it would be through reference-based pricing, and the light bulb went on."
Stephanie Porrino, Former HR Director, Hendry Marine Industries

Questions employers ask about this.

What is reference-based pricing?

Paying providers a set percentage of what Medicare pays for the same service instead of a network discount off billed charges. Hendry’s plan paid an average of 123% of Medicare across five years of claims.

What is a balance bill?

A bill a provider sends the patient for the difference between its charge and what the plan paid. Hendry saw 352 over five years, starting at about $2.1 million in charges, and settled all of them for under $15,000.

Did Ethos build Hendry’s plan?

No. Hendry moved to a self-funded plan with reference-based pricing in 2017 and made changes one at a time for years. Ethos later became the plan’s fiduciary advisor. The figures on this page cover the plan as a whole.

Is self-funding only for large employers?

Hendry has about 300 employees on a single site, many of them in their late 40s and 50s. Its experience shows a mid-sized employer can run a self-funded plan when it has the data and a deliberate process.

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