Short answer: There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Sound design starts with understanding your workforce (demographics, income, and preferences) and balancing four competing goals: employee satisfaction, affordability for the company, affordability for employees, and meeting the carrier’s participation requirements.
Absent a budget, an employer would offer comprehensive benefits, broad networks, low copays, and minimal employee contributions. Budgets make trade-offs unavoidable, so the task is to balance four goals that pull against each other: employee satisfaction, affordability for the employer, affordability for employees, and meeting carrier participation requirements.
Good design starts with knowing the workforce: age, income levels, utilization patterns, and whether employees value predictability (low deductibles) or flexibility (lower premiums, tax-advantaged accounts). A consumer-directed HDHP that delights one group can leave another feeling underinsured.
The framework ultimately reduces to four core decisions: (1) what level of benefits to offer (rich vs. lean), (2) how broad a network, (3) how to fund the plan (fully insured, level-funded, or self-funded), and (4) how much of the premium the employer contributes. The related FAQs in this category walk through the plan-menu and contribution decisions.
Sources
- Employee Benefits KB (Employer Decision Framework).
Content history
Originally published: June 16, 2026
Last reviewed: June 16, 2026