How Employers Experienced 7.4% Lower Medical Costs with Garner: Inside Aon's New Study

Every benefits vendor claims savings. Far fewer can show them in a way an actuary would sign off on. Most of the studies that circulate measure only the members who opted in, which makes a program look better than the impact an employer actually sees on its bill.

In this session, Mary Amend and Nick Albert, who lead consultant relations at Garner and both began their careers as actuaries, join Phil Salinger, Garner's Head of Product and Data, to walk through Garner's first third-party, actuarially validated savings study, conducted by Aon. You'll hear how the matched cohort was built and why that method is the standard when a randomized trial isn't possible, what the study found for employers who added Garner without touching plan design or network, and whether the savings held for members with two or more chronic conditions. The team also answers the questions consultants ask most, including what the results look like net of fees, how a small clean sample compares to a large biased one, and what changes when an employer pairs Garner with a plan design change.

For consultants weighing vendor claims, or employers who need numbers their finance team will accept, this is a close look at what a defensible savings study involves and how to read one.