Rethinking the Renewal: How MarketStar Turned a Double-Digit Hike Into a Long-Term Win

MarketStar's renewal came in at 37%. The company was self-funded, offered a rich plan, and held a core value that says it cares about employees and their families. Every conventional option on the table, from a narrower network to an ICHRA to shifting costs onto workers, would have broken that promise.

In this session, Kirk Czonstka, Garner's SVP of Strategic Alliances, talks with Courtney Rodriguez, who leads the people function at MarketStar, and Chris Merrill, the company's benefits consultant at IMA, about what they did instead. You'll hear how they raised the deductible from $1,000 to $5,000 and paired it with an incentive that covers out-of-pocket costs for members who see a top doctor, how the renewal landed at zero, and what happened when an employee advisory committee saw the new design for the first time. Courtney and Chris are candid about the skepticism they met, the 101-style workshops they ran to turn it around, and what they would communicate differently today.

Two renewal cycles in, more than 60% of MarketStar employees use the program, and Courtney says taking it away now would cause more upheaval than adding it did. If you or your clients are staring at a renewal you can't absorb, this is what it looks like to solve it without giving up your values or your network.