Title: Plan financing for Employers
Source: https://ethosbenefits.com/topics/plan-financing
Publisher: Ethos Benefits
Summary: Fully insured, level funded, self-funded, captives and reference-based pricing: how each way of paying for a health plan changes cost and risk.

1.  [Home](https://ethosbenefits.com/)
2.  [Learn](https://ethosbenefits.com/learn)
3.  Plan financing

# Plan financing. How your plan is paid for.

Fully insured, level funded, self-funded, captives and reference-based pricing: how each way of paying for a health plan changes cost and risk.

Start with the main guide

## [How does self-funded health insurance work?](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/self-funded-health-insurance)

Self-funded health insurance is a health plan where the employer pays employees' medical claims from its own money instead of buying a fully insured policy. A third-party administrator processes the claims, a pharmacy benefit manager runs the drug benefit, and stop-loss insurance reimburses the employer when claims pass set limits.

[Read the guide](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/self-funded-health-insurance)

In this guide

1.  What is self-funded health insurance?
2.  How does the money flow?
3.  Which vendors does a self-funded plan use?
4.  What does the employer have to do?
5.  What data does the plan own?
6.  Which claims does stop-loss cover?
7.  Who does self-funding fit?

## Guides 7

-   [**Level funded vs. fully insured** Plan financing _Guide_](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/level-funded-vs-fully-insured)
-   [**Level funded vs. self-funded** Plan financing _Guide_](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/level-funded-vs-self-funded)
-   [**Self funded vs. fully insured** Plan financing _Guide_](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/self-funded-vs-fully-insured)
-   [**Self-funded health insurance pros and cons** Plan financing _Guide_](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/self-funded-health-insurance-pros-and-cons)
-   [**Self-funded healthcare trusts** Plan financing _Guide_](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/self-funded-healthcare-trusts)
-   [**What is level-funded health insurance?** Plan financing _Guide_](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/level-funded-health-insurance)
-   [**What is reference-based pricing?** Plan financing _Guide_](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/reference-based-pricing)

[How Ethos Benefits helps **Renewals and marketing**](https://ethosbenefits.com/services/renewals) [See it in practice **Case study: Kalos Services**](https://ethosbenefits.com/results/kalos-services)

Other topics [ERISA and plan documents](https://ethosbenefits.com/topics/erisa) [ACA reporting](https://ethosbenefits.com/topics/aca-reporting) [Compliance rules and deadlines](https://ethosbenefits.com/topics/compliance) [Stop-loss insurance](https://ethosbenefits.com/topics/stop-loss) [Pharmacy and PBMs](https://ethosbenefits.com/topics/pharmacy) [Fiduciary duty and advisor pay](https://ethosbenefits.com/topics/fiduciary-duty) [Benefits strategy and administration](https://ethosbenefits.com/topics/benefits-strategy) [A to Z glossary](https://ethosbenefits.com/benefits-101/glossary)

## See what your plan is really costing you.

A Strategic Analysis starts with your plan documents and your broker agreement, then shows you what your plan costs, where the risk sits, and what a committee would decide with the full picture.

[Request a Strategic Analysis](https://ethosbenefits.com/strategic-analysis) [Call (407) 803-4710](tel:+14078034710)