Administrative Services Only - ASO

Perhaps most employees in Recent Grads, Inc. are young and healthy, so the owners decide to try and save some money on group health insurance. They make the decision to self-insure, and hire an insurance company to handle administrative services only (ASO) such as evaluating claims, preparing government reports, and handling health care reimbursement accounts. Employee health claims are paid directly from the company. Recent Grads, Inc. is rolling the dice that no one is going to file a major claim for a heart transplant or severe injuries from a car accident. But they can also protect themselves from catastrophic claims by purchasing stop-loss insurance, so that any claims over $10,000 per person, for example, would be paid by the insurance company.

An ASO health plan also allows the employer to cover health care benefits that an insurance company might not cover, such as acupuncture, infertility treatments, and speech therapy for your kid.