Palo Alto, California employer health plans: what they cost and who gets paid
Updated plan year 2024, the most recent complete year
68 employers in Palo Alto, California filed health plans with 100 or more participants for plan year 2024, covering 119,343 participants. They reported $28M in insurance premiums and $11M in broker commissions and fees. Against 2023, premiums were up 12.9% and broker pay fell 17.9%.
Funding: 10 fully insured · 1 self-funded · 57 mixed. 58 of 68 plans pay at least some medical claims from the employer's own assets.
Largest employer health plans in Palo Alto
Palo Alto employers reporting the most insurance premium across every Schedule A contract, with what they paid brokers.
| Employer | Premiums | Broker pay | Participants | Top broker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. | $23,127,806 | $514,872 | 1,909 | Lockton |
| Next Insurance, Inc | $4,424,278 | $44,193 | 477 | Sequoia |
| Upwork Inc. | $296,508 | $215,227 | 811 | Beere & Purves, Inc. |
| Point Digital Finance, Inc. | $116,289 | $231,770 | 155 | Abd Ins. and Financial SVCS., Inc. |
| Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health | $24,304 | $107,219 | 134 | Melita-Mcdonald Insurance Services |
| Tesla, Inc. | $0 | $726,805 | 78,585 | BSC Agency LLC |
| Avago Technologies U.S. Inc. | $0 | $380,712 | 14,194 | Willis Towers Watson |
| Cooley LLP | $0 | $608,894 | 2,545 | Alliant Insurance Services |
| Rubrik, Inc | $0 | $181,667 | 1,703 | Willis Towers Watson |
| Guardant Health, Inc | $0 | $410,753 | 1,648 | Vita Insurance Associates, Inc. |
| Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | $0 | $225,184 | 1,440 | Mercer |
| Electric Power Research Institute | $0 | $55,752 | 1,235 | EPIC Insurance Brokers |
| Navan, Inc. | $0 | $143,017 | 1,200 | OneDigital |
| Integration Appliance, Inc. | $0 | $125,390 | 891 | Willis Towers Watson |
| Applovin Corporation | $0 | $6,265 | 693 | Sequoia |
| Tencent America, LLC | $0 | $405,685 | 639 | Aon |
| Symphonyai, LLC | $0 | $136,523 | 559 | Sequoia |
| Woven BY Toyota, U.S., Inc. | $0 | $567,967 | 529 | Abd Ins. and Financial SVCS., Inc. |
| Sambanova Systems, Inc. | $0 | $363,619 | 525 | Sequoia |
| Bridgebio Services, Inc. | $0 | $292,564 | 451 | OneDigital |
| Sciton, Inc. | $0 | $164,636 | 389 | OneDigital |
| Workato Inc. | $0 | $92,050 | 325 | Alliant Insurance Services |
| Ascendis Pharma, Inc. | $0 | $101,469 | 319 | EPIC Insurance Brokers |
| Calm.Com, Inc. | $0 | $86,667 | 318 | Abd Ins. and Financial SVCS., Inc. |
| Docker, Inc. | $0 | $37,743 | 296 | Abd Ins. and Financial SVCS., Inc. |
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 Palo Alto employers, with the number of employer plans naming each broker.
| Broker | Commissions + fees | Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Sequoia | $1,961,203 | 18 |
| Abd Ins. and Financial SVCS., Inc. | $1,344,937 | 10 |
| Alliant Insurance Services | $945,363 | 5 |
| Willis Towers Watson | $757,992 | 5 |
| Vita Insurance Associates, Inc. | $664,518 | 4 |
| OneDigital | $615,198 | 4 |
| Lockton | $455,485 | 1 |
| Aon | $433,814 | 3 |
| Johnson & Dugan Insurance Services | $379,742 | 2 |
| Mercer | $339,644 | 2 |
Largest medical carriers
Medical premium written for these employers.
Palo Alto 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.
| Palo Alto | California | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer plans | 68 | 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 | $124,941 | $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, 72 Palo Alto employers reported $25M in premiums and $14M in broker pay for 114,747 participants; in 2024 it was $28M and $11M for 119,343 participants (premiums +12.9%, broker pay −17.9%).
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 Palo Alto employers pay health insurance brokers?
68 Palo Alto employers reported $11,414,797 in broker commissions and fees on their 2024 Form 5500 filings, 68 of them disclosing at least some compensation. Too few fully insured medical plans in Palo Alto 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 Palo Alto employer that disclosed broker pay reported $124,941.
Which Palo Alto employers have the largest health plans?
By insurance premium reported for 2024, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C. ($23M), Next Insurance, Inc ($4.4M), Upwork Inc. ($296,508) lead. 25 Palo Alto employers are listed on this page; every employer in the record has its own page.
Which brokers and carriers are paid the most in Palo Alto?
By compensation reported by Palo Alto employers, the largest brokers are Sequoia ($2.0M, 18 plans), Abd Ins. and Financial SVCS., Inc. ($1.3M, 10 plans), Alliant Insurance Services ($945,363, 5 plans). By medical premium, the largest carriers are Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Sutter Health Plan.
Are Palo Alto employer health plans self-funded or fully insured?
Of 68 Palo Alto employer plans, 10 are fully insured, 1 are self-funded and 57 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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