How a non-profit home health provider reduced their healthcare costs & delivered 96% employee satisfaction with Take Command

Turn Community Services provides services to more than 850 individuals with developmental disabilities in Utah.

Turn Community Services (TURN) is a non-profit organization serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. TURN supports close to 850 individuals across Utah, providing residential services, day programs, supported employment, and other essential resources. 

For TURN, offering quality healthcare benefits is a priority. Employees at the organization are committed to improving the lives of others through high quality care, but they also need to look after their own well-being. Having access to a health plan that meets their needs allows them to take care of their families and continue serving the TURN community. 

However, with more than 400 employees and limited financial resources, providing adequate benefits is a challenge. As Brenda Harris, director of human resources at TURN, explains, healthcare renewal is stressful for an organization where every dollar counts. 

Being a nonprofit, it’s very difficult to make health insurance affordable for us and affordable for our employees,” said Harris. “We kept going through that renewal process over and over and just felt so entangled in it. The renewals were very troublesome.

Challenge: Complicated group plan management and a shocking renewal increase

Two years ago, TURN’s group health insurance provider stunned them with a renewal quote of 19%, up from a typical increase of 7% to 9%. Even after negotiating, the quote remained completely unaffordable for the non-profit. 

With the group plan out of reach, TURN’s commitment to full-time employment was under threat. While TURN wanted to continue offering benefits, they now faced the possibility of having to move to an entirely part-time workforce. Reducing working hours and stripping away benefits would damage employee morale and compromise the critical services TURN provides. 

“Our health insurance provider came to us with a renewal rate that was not even doable,” said Harris. “We are always encouraging and trying to hire as many full-time employees as we can, but we had to ask ourselves if we could continue to do that. We were having some very difficult conversations.”

Solution: Stress-free switch to ICHRA

In search of a solution, TURN’s health insurance broker suggested looking into ICHRA — an HRA that would allow TURN to reimburse employees for plans purchased on the individual market. Switching to individual coverage with Take Command made immediate sense for Harris. The cost savings were significant, and Take Command promised a smooth transition despite a tight timeframe — TURN had just two weeks to set up their ICHRA by the time they realized that their group plan was no longer viable.   

Take Command simplified what could have been a stressful and chaotic fortnight for Harris and her team. With the help of Take Command, TURN’s HR specialists were able to provide employees with the information they needed to sign up and get started. Employees were soon shopping for their own insurance with confidence, evaluating the options and selecting the plans that worked best for themselves and their families.    

The support is ongoing. Take Command continues to offer dedicated time slots for TURN employees to call and speak directly with a representative, without being placed on hold. Take Command also provides extensive resources and training, taking the burden off the HR specialists at TURN.

“Even from the get-go, I thought Take Command was fantastic, and they’ve just made it even better since then,” said Harris. 

Results: 96% employee satisfaction and dramatic time savings

While saving costs was the catalyst for change at TURN, switching to ICHRA has benefited other areas of the organization, too. They’ve seen amazing results in terms of employee satisfaction — feedback shows 96% of the workforce are happy with their health coverage. 

High employee satisfaction rates have had a direct impact on recruitment and retention. “We want employees to refer people to come work for us,” said Harris. “ICHRA has been a selling point for them to share when asked the question, ‘What are the benefits?’ Employees are talking about the ICHRA, and we’ve seen an increase in applicants as a result.” What’s more, current employees are now more invested in their own well-being. Equipped with affordable coverage that meets their needs, workers are taking better care of themselves so they can show up and care for others. 

TURN has seen an 87.5% reduction in time spent managing healthcare plans under ICHRA. 

Previously, Harris would spend two full weeks working on the health insurance renewal during open enrollment. With Take Command, it only takes about ten hours in total. During the rest of the year, the time Harris dedicates to healthcare is limited to ongoing education, support, and communication, around five hours a month. That’s great news for Harris and everyone else at TURN — the HR team now has more time to focus on other employee needs. 

I didn’t used to get holiday breaks — I would work through Christmas to get our health insurance set up for the next year,” said Harris. “With Take Command, I haven’t had to do that for the last two years. I actually get a holiday now.