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From $750k in first-year savings to a long-term health benefits strategy

Organization
Grace College

Market
Education

Previous Plans
Self-funded group plan and Remodel Health’s Wage+

Size
~200 employees

Location
Winona Lake, IN

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Challenges

Grace College had offered a self-funded group health plan for nine years when rising healthcare costs began to put unreasonable financial pressure on the institution. Like many employers, Grace College's group health plan costs continued to rise, making it difficult to maintain a competitive benefits package without passing those increases on to employees.

The challenge was especially significant for the Indiana college because of its need to attract and retain employees. In the higher education industry, budgetary constraints can make it difficult to offer competitive salaries, so a strong benefits package is a crucial part of a college’s overall compensation strategy. Grace College leadership knew they had to revamp their health benefits to control costs while still providing employees with comprehensive coverage.

Grace College was facing: 

Unpredictable premium spikes.

After nine years with a self-funded group plan, the college was facing up to $3.4 million in unpredictable exposure to employee medical claim costs.

Rising employee healthcare costs.

Traditional group coverage limited employees’ plan choices and often required them to choose between policies with higher premiums or higher out-of-pocket medical expenses.

Talent attraction and retention struggles.

Because the college couldn’t always offer high salaries, it needed a strong, attractive benefits package to remain competitive for talent.

“The challenges were mostly with cost. With the healthcare industry constantly changing and prices constantly going up, we felt pressure and a need to do something.”
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Josh Ailes

HR Director, Grace College

The Solution

Grace College began working with Remodel Health when Austin Lehman, Remodel Health's CEO and a Grace College graduate, introduced the college’s leadership team to an alternative approach to traditional health benefits. At the time, employees were used to group coverage, in which employers select a limited number of group plans for participating employees to choose from. But the plan options were restrictive and expensive, leading some staff members to avoid seeking medical care due to the cost.

With Lehman’s help, Grace College made the move from its self-funded group plan to Remodel Health’s Wage+ product in 2018. Wage+ was a taxable salary increase that employers gave to their employees to purchase their own individual health coverage.

While Wage+ was an excellent solution for several years, Grace College was still seeking a way to create a long-term, tax-advantaged benefits strategy. On January 1, 2026, the college switched from Wage+ to an individual coverage health reimbursement arrangement (ICHRA) solution with Remodel Health. With an ICHRA, now known as the CHOICE Arrangement, employers can set a defined, tax-free contribution amount that employees can use to buy the individual health coverage that fits their personal needs.

Implementation

Grace College knew that moving from a traditional group plan to a personalized health benefit that relied on the individual market would be a challenge for employees. To get the most out of their benefit, employees had to understand how it worked, trust the Remodel Health team, and feel comfortable choosing their own health coverage.

Remodel Health worked alongside Grace College leaders to make the transition as smooth as possible. By communicating their own faith in the new benefit model, leadership helped employees feel more comfortable with the change.

  • On-campus education and communication. Remodel Health participated in employee education and communication meetings, helping leadership explain the new benefit and how to shop on the individual market.
  • Face-to-face employee support. Remodel Health brought benefits advisors to campus to meet individually with employees and help them learn how to use the platform and determine which health plans best fit their needs.
  • Hands-on partnership. Rather than simply designing the benefit and leaving Grace College to manage the transition alone, Remodel Health remained actively involved throughout implementation, onboarding, and beyond through our ClearChoice end-to-end service model.

The Results

Grace College’s decision to rethink its health benefits strategy has resulted in immediate and long-term financial value. Its first shift away from a self-funded group plan to Wage+ generated approximately $750,000 in savings after the first year, while the college’s migration to a defined contribution ICHRA in 2026 established a sustainable health benefit proven to keep costs low.

Better yet, Grace College’s employees have found that their premiums are, on average, lower than what they paid under their former group plan.  

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Significant cost savings

The initial transition from the self-funded group plan to Remodel Health generated approximately $750,000 in first-year savings.

Significant cost savings

More sustainable costs for employees

An ICHRA limits year-over-year benefit increases, meaning the college doesn’t have to pass on rising healthcare costs to employees. 
More sustainable costs for employees

Stronger investment in the institution

Savings from the new health benefit have given Grace College additional funds and resources to reinvest in employee compensation and business priorities. 
Stronger investment in the institution
“We took a leap of faith in this new ICHRA model, and it’s been great ever since.”
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Josh Ailes

HR Director, Grace College

Key Wins

Employee perspective

  • More choice in coverage. Employees can shop for individual health plans in their local market rather than being limited to a few group plan options.
  • Lower average premiums. Employees’ premiums under ICHRA have remained lower on average than what they paid under Grace College’s self-funded group plan.
  • Personalized support. Remodel Health’s team is always standing by to help employees understand their plan options, choose qualifying coverage, or answer questions about their ICHRA benefit.

Employer perspective

  • Long-term cost control. Grace College has created a stronger healthcare model that provides greater financial predictability and helps prevent rising costs from becoming higher employee costs.
  • Significant savings and increased participation. The transition from the self-funded group plan to a personalized health benefit has saved the college hundreds of thousands of dollars, with all employees participating in the benefit.
  • A valued ICHRA partnership. Remodel Health has remained involved at every step of the ICHRA’s plan year whenever Grace College or its employees need assistance.
“Thank you to Remodel Health for helping us save money to help the college continue to thrive, but doing it in a way that builds trusted relationships, innovation, and still servicing our customers in a way that makes them feel that they are important to us and that we want to show that to them.”
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Norman Bakhit

Chief Human Resources Officer, Grace College

Conclusion

From nine years of self-funded group coverage, to Wage+, and now to an ICHRA (also called a CHOICE Arrangement), Grace College has transformed its health benefits strategy from unpredictable and frustrating to financially stable and effective. Now, employees have more choice, costs are manageable, and they have a dedicated partner that will work with them from beginning to end. 

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