Average Employer Healthcare Cost: What to Budget for in 2027
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Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to common questions about Garner
For Employers
Employers see an average 12% reduction in total plan costs in the first year alone. Garner's model aligns financial incentives so members choose high-quality, cost-efficient providers. These providers help your employees get healthier, faster and have lower complication rates -- leading to lower healthcare costs.
Garner applies 550+ proprietary clinical metrics to our dataset of de-identified medical claims from 320M+ patients to identify the top-performing providers in your network. Providers are evaluated on clinical outcomes, adherence to evidence-based best practices, and cost efficiency within their specialty, geography, and peerset. Learn more about our data methodology.
No. Garner works as a layer on top of your existing health plan and provider network. Members continue to use their current insurance cards and can see any in-network provider. Garner simply guides them toward the best ones and helps them cover their out-of-pocket costs when they see these top-performing providers.
Garner's user-friendly app and white glove Concierge make it simple and stress free to find the best in-network doctors with availability in your area. Garner incentivizes more of your employees see the best doctors by helping cover their out-of-pocket costs when they see Top Providers. The result is an industry-leading 46% employee engagement rate.
A Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) is an employer-funded benefit that reimburses employees tax-free for qualified medical expenses, such as deductibles and co-pays. With Garner, employers offer an HRA that helps reimburse employees after they visit a Garner Top Provider.
Yes. Garner's first-dollar HSA model works with select HSA vendors to seed a member's account with the equivalent of their out-of-pocket cost, so the account stays HSA-eligible while members still have a reason to choose top providers. Your team confirms the right setup during onboarding.
Most navigation tools surface in-network providers or price estimates. Garner goes further by using proprietary quality rankings—built on over 60 billion medical records from 320M+ patients—to identify the best-performing doctors in each specialty and market. Garner then backs that guidance with meaningful financial incentives that motivate members to see these best providers.
A Top Provider is a doctor or provider that Garner has identified as delivering strong clinical quality and cost efficiency within their specialty and local market. Garner designates Top Providers based on analysis of billions of de-identified medical claims—not self-reported data or paid placements.
Garner integrates with most major carriers, TPAs, and HRIS platforms. Implementation is simple and can happen in 60 to 90 days with only a claims data feed from your carrier and a standard enrollment file. Garner's implementation team manages the technical setup, member communications, and HRA configuration.
Onboarding typically takes 60–90 days from contract signing to launch. Garner’s implementation team manages carrier data integration, member communication templates, and HRA configuration. Employers are not responsible for the technical setup. Explore Garner for employers.
Yes. Garner can launch mid-year because it adds a voluntary benefit layer that doesn't require plan design changes or require open enrollment. Employers do not need to wait for their annual benefits renewal to get started.
For Providers
Garner applies 550+ proprietary clinical metrics to over 60 billion de-identified claims from 320M+ patients, evaluating clinical outcomes, adherence to evidence-based care guidelines, and cost efficiency. Providers who rank in the top tier of their specialty and geographic market earn the Top Provider designation.
Garner excludes the most complex cases entirely, since those outcomes cannot be risk-adjusted reliably, then adjusts the remaining cases for patient comorbidities and demographics before comparing doctors. This keeps the comparison focused on similar patients rather than penalizing physicians who take on difficult ones.
Garner refreshes its underlying data monthly and scores a doctor when about three months of claims are available. Contact and availability details in the directory update close to real time, while quality metrics update each month.
Providers currently cannot access their individual rankings directly. Garner's methodology is built on de-identified claims data that is not provider-reported, which keeps the rankings objective and independent.
Yes. Members using Garner are actively guided toward Top Providers through personalized recommendations and financial incentives. Top Providers in markets where Garner operates may see increased patient volume from Garner members who are actively seeking care. Learn more about Garner for providers.
Garner covers over 80 sub-specialties, including primary care, orthopedics, cardiology, gastroenterology, OB/GYN, and more. Coverage is prioritized in the specialties and markets where quality variation and cost impact are greatest.
For Health Plans
Health plans can offer Garner as a value-added benefit that reduces total claims cost, improves member outcomes, and differentiates their product in competitive employer markets—without changing plan design or network contracts. Learn more about Garner for health plans.
Yes. Garner works with both fully insured and self-funded arrangements, in addition to level-funded plans.
By directing members to high-quality, cost-efficient providers, Garner reduces unnecessary procedures and avoidable complications, while also helping members get healthy faster. The result is lower total claims spend without restricting member choice or changing plan benefits.
Garner analyzes about 75% of U.S. medical claims across more than 320 million patients, several times a single carrier's view, and adds Medicare, Medicaid, and price-transparency data. Because it is not tied to one insurer, it can measure both quality and cost and follow outcomes as members move between plans.
Garner recommends several ranked options per specialty within a reasonable drive time, so volume spreads across a pool of high performers rather than one name. Garner also works with health systems to raise the performance of other doctors, widening the supply of high-quality care over time.
Yes. For the employer groups a plan serves, Garner guides their employees to high-quality, cost-efficient providers, which lowers the group's total claims cost, cuts unnecessary procedures, and helps employees recover faster. It also layers onto the plan employers already have, so they improve outcomes without changing plan design or network.
Garner provides regular reporting on member engagement, Top Provider utilization rates, estimated claims savings, and many other metrics. Health plans can use this data to demonstrate ROI to employer clients and track the benefit's impact over time.
For Members
Garner uses data science to identify the top 20% of doctors. These Top Providers:
- Practice based on the latest medical research
- Successfully diagnose problems
- Produce the best patient outcomes
- Get the highest patient satisfaction ratings
After seeing Top Providers, Garner reimburses your qualifying out-of-pocket medical costs. By receiving the best care, you'll generally save money on your health care, and you're likely to be healthier overall. It's a win-win. Learn how it works.
- Create a Garner account online at getgarner.com or by downloading the Garner Health app.
- Find Top Providers in the Garner Health app or website. Doctors with a Top Provider badge are automatically added to your list of approved providers as soon as their badge appears on your screen.
- See your Top Provider.
- Get reimbursed. Out-of-pocket medical costs from approved providers will qualify for reimbursement on or after the date the provider was added to your list.
Yes. Traditional insurer directories are often wrong about who is in network or accepting patients, so Garner verifies each provider three ways: claims data showing they are taking new patients, AI that checks real booking and website availability, and a call center that phones offices directly. This brings Garner’s directory accuracy to 92%, showing you only verified, in-network options.What if my preferred doctor isn't a recommended provider?
You can still see any doctor in your network. You simply would not earn the Garner reimbursement for that visit. Some plans also let you keep a current primary care doctor, OB, pediatrician, or behavioral health provider and still take part in the Garner program. Garner's care team can also explain why a doctor is or is not recommended and help you find strong alternatives.
Garner finds the best existing in-network options within a realistic drive time and compares them only to other doctors serving the same region. Drive-time ranges widen for specialized care, so a complex specialty may include options farther away than a routine visit. Garner can also point you toward high-quality virtual care.
Check the "Your benefit" page in the Garner Health app to learn which types of costs qualify under your Garner plan.
Your out-of-pocket medical costs will qualify for reimbursement if:
- You have created a Garner account and added the provider to your list of approved providers prior to the date of service.
- Your provider is in-network and the cost was covered by your health insurance plan. (Check your health insurance plan.)
- The type of cost qualifies for reimbursement under your Garner plan. Depending on your Garner plan, costs for things like prescription drugs or emergency services may or may not qualify for reimbursement. (Check the "Your benefit" page to learn more.)
- If your health insurance plan is paired with an HSA, you will need to incur costs greater than the minimum deductible. (Check the "Your benefit" page in the Garner Health app to see if this requirement applies.)
Garner follows the provider on each claim, so the costs tied to a surgery are counted and covered even when the anesthesiologist or pathologist bills separately and happens to be out of network. You are not penalized for parts of the care team you did not choose.
No, Garner does not let doctors pay to show up in our recommendations. Unlike insurance directories, Garner ranks doctors based on real patient outcomes so you can be confident you're seeing the best doctors.
No. Garner is not your health insurance. Garner is a separate benefit that is paired with your health insurance plan to help you find the best providers and reduce the amount you must pay out of pocket before you meet your insurance deductible. Garner is a Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) and is funded entirely by your employer.
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