New Aon Study: Employers with Garner Experienced 7.4% Lower Medical Costs with No Plan Design Changes

For today’s employers, the challenge is never-ending: how do you lower healthcare costs without risking your employee’s quality of care, stripping back benefits, or forcing your employees to endure painful disruptions and network changes? A new analysis conducted by Aon may have the answer.

Continue reading for the key findings or download the full study here.

7.4% Lower Medical Costs for Employers

The study examined employees across multiple employers between 2020 and 2024 to determine Garner’s impact on medical spending between the Garner-eligible members and a matched control group, normalized for geography, demographics, and clinical comorbidities. 

The study found that the Garner-eligible group had 7.4% lower medical spend than the control group in the first year of implementation. This translates to a $345 lower medical spend Per Member Per Year (PMPY) compared to the control. 

Significant Savings Even Without Plan Design Changes

Attempting to move the needle on healthcare costs usually forces employers into a difficult corner. Traditionally, achieving these kinds of savings meant either facing significant disruption, such as switching carriers or narrowing provider networks, or cutting benefits for employees.

Garner, however, offers an out-of-the-box “overlay” solution that requires no change to an employer’s existing plan design. The employers in the study implemented Garner on their existing networks and plan designs, reduced employee out-of-pocket spending, and collectively still saw significant savings. Unlike traditional interventions, these savings didn’t come from cutting benefits. Instead, employees saw enriched benefits because Garner reimbursed members’ out-of-pocket costs when they saw providers that Garner recommended. 

Garner also offers options for employers seeking even more savings. Garner’s internal analysis of over 163,000 employees shows that clients who choose to implement an enhanced employee incentive paired with some plan design changes can see savings of 15% or more. 

Aon’s findings reinforce what we’ve always believed at Garner. It's possible to move the needle on healthcare costs without significant disruption, while simultaneously offering even richer benefits for employees. 

Strong Savings Across Demographics

Aon’s analysis also confirms Garner’s unique approach succeeds across a wide range of demographics, with cost savings improving for nearly all age groups and for employees with high medical complexity.

The most notable improvement occurred in the younger workforce. Specifically Garner members who were 19-29 moved from being 6% more expensive than market benchmark to 20% more efficient after Garner’s introduction. 

Further, the study found that Garner’s cost savings extended even to populations with complex and chronic conditions, who are often the highest cost claimants on an employer plan. Garner-eligible members with two or more chronic conditions saw 6% reduction in medical spend, or a $648 decrease in PMPY spend, compared to the control group after Garner implementation.

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