Berkeley, California employer health plans: what they cost and who gets paid
Updated plan year 2024, the most recent complete year
18 employers in Berkeley, California filed health plans with 100 or more participants for plan year 2024, covering 5,322 participants. They reported $0 in insurance premiums and $2.1M in broker commissions and fees. Against 2023, premiums were unchanged and broker pay fell 1.6%.
Funding: 1 fully insured · 1 self-funded · 16 mixed. 17 of 18 plans pay at least some medical claims from the employer's own assets.
Largest employer health plans in Berkeley
Berkeley employers reporting the most insurance premium across every Schedule A contract, with what they paid brokers.
| Employer | Premiums | Broker pay | Participants | Top broker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lifelong Medical Care | $0 | $53,506 | 988 | Filice Insurance Services, LLC |
| YMCA of the East Bay | $0 | $236,586 | 590 | Marsh McLennan Agency |
| Berkeley Bowl Produce, Inc. | $0 | $280,336 | 456 | Heffernan |
| Pivot Bio | $0 | $60,630 | 430 | Marsh McLennan Agency |
| Backroads | $0 | $234,147 | 274 | Acrisure |
| Twelve Benefit Corporation | $0 | $77,934 | 272 | Sequoia |
| Satellite Affordable Housing Associates | $0 | $168,705 | 240 | Marsh McLennan Agency |
| Meyer Sound Laboratories, Inc. | $0 | $144,622 | 238 | EPIC Insurance Brokers |
| Moore Iacofano Goltsman, Inc | $0 | $121,502 | 235 | NFP |
| Upside Foods, Inc. | $0 | $207,265 | 234 | Abd Ins. and Financial SVCS., Inc. |
| Doughtronics, Inc the Acme Bread Company | $0 | $12,388 | 221 | EPIC Insurance Brokers |
| Crossroads Trading Company | $0 | $83,251 | 211 | Abd Ins. and Financial SVCS., Inc. |
| Voleon Capital Management LP | $0 | $92,821 | 205 | Woodruff Sawyer |
| Foresight Mental Health Group PLLC | $0 | $16,826 | 188 | Brown & Brown |
| Insight Housing | $0 | $98,920 | 167 | Heffernan |
| Sound Agriculture Company | $0 | $48,121 | 136 | Sequoia |
| Genetic Foresight Inc. | $0 | $14,795 | 120 | Brown & Brown |
| Rigetti Computing, Inc. | $0 | $135,338 | 117 | Sequoia |
Source: DOL Form 5500 Schedule A, plan year 2024; employers are grouped by the sponsor's mailing city as filed. Self-funded employers show only stop-loss and ancillary premium.
Who gets paid
Commissions and fees reported by Berkeley employers, with the number of employer plans naming each broker.
| Broker | Commissions + fees | Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Marsh McLennan Agency | $433,343 | 4 |
| Heffernan | $376,958 | 2 |
| Sequoia | $261,729 | 4 |
| Abd Ins. and Financial SVCS., Inc. | $249,705 | 2 |
| Acrisure | $234,957 | 2 |
| EPIC Insurance Brokers | $157,010 | 2 |
| NFP | $128,972 | 2 |
| Woodruff Sawyer | $71,983 | 1 |
| RBG San Jose | $31,534 | 1 |
| Brown & Brown | $31,284 | 2 |
Largest medical carriers
Medical premium written for these employers.
Berkeley against California and the U.S.
Medians over the same definitions on every BenefitsLedger page: commission rate on commission-paying, fully insured medical plans; broker pay per employer that disclosed any; medical premium per covered person.
| Berkeley | California | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer plans | 18 | 6,836 | 58,547 |
| Median commission rate | n/a | 4.0% | 3.8% |
| Middle half of rates | n/a | 0.6% – 6.3% | 2.7% – 5.0% |
| Median broker pay per employer | $95,871 | $104,298 | $72,628 |
| Medical premium per covered person | n/a | $6,689 | $7,274 |
| Plans reporting no commission | 0 | 25 | 933 |
Year over year. In plan year 2023, 18 Berkeley employers reported $0 in premiums and $2.1M in broker pay for 5,075 participants; in 2024 it was $0 and $2.1M for 5,322 participants (broker pay −1.6%).
Source: DOL Form 5500 and Schedule A, plan years 2024 and 2023, employer health plans with 100 or more participants; built October 24, 2026. Medians need at least 10 rated plans to be shown for a city. Methodology.
How much do Berkeley employers pay health insurance brokers?
18 Berkeley employers reported $2,087,693 in broker commissions and fees on their 2024 Form 5500 filings, 18 of them disclosing at least some compensation. Too few fully insured medical plans in Berkeley reported premium to compute a stable commission rate; the California median is 4.0% and the U.S. median is 3.8%. In dollars, the median Berkeley employer that disclosed broker pay reported $95,871.
Which Berkeley employers have the largest health plans?
By insurance premium reported for 2024, Lifelong Medical Care ($0), YMCA of the East Bay ($0), Berkeley Bowl Produce, Inc. ($0) lead. 18 Berkeley employers are listed on this page; every employer in the record has its own page.
Which brokers and carriers are paid the most in Berkeley?
By compensation reported by Berkeley employers, the largest brokers are Marsh McLennan Agency ($433,343, 4 plans), Heffernan ($376,958, 2 plans), Sequoia ($261,729, 4 plans). By medical premium, the largest carriers are Blue Cross of California, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation.
Are Berkeley employer health plans self-funded or fully insured?
Of 18 Berkeley employer plans, 1 are fully insured, 1 are self-funded and 16 mix insured and self-funded coverage. Self-funded plans report only stop-loss and ancillary contracts on Schedule A, so their premium and broker pay understate total spend.
Other cities in California
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