Denver, Colorado employer health plans: what they cost and who gets paid
Updated plan year 2024, the most recent complete year
349 employers in Denver, Colorado filed health plans with 100 or more participants for plan year 2024, covering 314,539 participants. They reported $40M in insurance premiums and $36M in broker commissions and fees. Against 2023, premiums were up 9.1% and broker pay rose 6.6%.
Funding: 56 fully insured · 165 self-funded · 128 mixed. 293 of 349 plans pay at least some medical claims from the employer's own assets.
Largest employer health plans in Denver
Denver employers reporting the most insurance premium across every Schedule A contract, with what they paid brokers.
| Employer | Premiums | Broker pay | Participants | Top broker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solace Healthcare, Inc. | $9,699,533 | $403,225 | 1,911 | Lockton |
| Davita Inc. | $4,191,231 | $1,291,969 | 58,898 | Custom Benefit Programs |
| Summit Materials | $2,219,748 | $394 | 5,571 | Lockton |
| Trilon Group | $1,969,411 | $942,839 | 3,548 | Lockton |
| Adswerve Inc. | $1,637,060 | $105,830 | 241 | Alliant Insurance Services |
| Dawson Technical, Inc. | $1,364,816 | $273,305 | 1,245 | Lockton |
| Wagner Equipment Co. | $1,304,162 | $293,408 | 1,526 | IMA Financial |
| Acme Manufacturing Company, Inc. | $1,245,817 | $154,369 | 261 | Benefit Commerce GRP an Alera GRP |
| Johns Manville Corporation | $1,242,200 | $868,521 | 5,735 | Aon |
| Medianews Group, Inc. | $1,229,746 | $215,325 | 2,123 | Gallagher |
| Kroenke Sports Holdings, LLC | $1,002,915 | $224,397 | 643 | Mercer |
| Advanced Energy Industries, Inc. | $865,343 | $168,827 | 1,025 | Willis Towers Watson |
| University of Denver | $815,573 | $231,082 | 2,830 | Gallagher |
| Association of Colorado Independent Schools | $678,976 | $278,923 | 768 | IMA Financial |
| Usmh Corporation | $584,798 | $258,043 | 224 | William Howard Borland |
| True North Health Navigation LLC | $544,379 | $560,061 | 1,424 | Gallagher |
| TLP Management Services, LLC | $509,448 | $61,707 | 539 | HUB International |
| Apartment Income Reit LLC | $442,162 | $111,978 | 742 | Willis Towers Watson |
| Strive Health | $421,472 | $320,824 | 633 | Sequoia |
| E2 Consulting Engineers Inc. | $380,502 | $384,498 | 652 | OneDigital |
| Evergreen Natural Resources LLC | $375,307 | $24,888 | 144 | Higginbotham |
| Alterra Mountain Company U.S. Inc. | $362,453 | $307,946 | 3,302 | Burnham Benefits |
| Velocity Global, LLC | $341,872 | $75,300 | 392 | Willis Towers Watson |
| Colorado Coalition for the Homeless | $329,154 | $206,268 | 694 | USI Insurance Services |
| Omnitrax, Inc. | $314,912 | $36,541 | 552 | Gallagher |
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 Denver employers, with the number of employer plans naming each broker.
| Broker | Commissions + fees | Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Lockton | $4,900,874 | 64 |
| Mercer | $2,993,857 | 24 |
| USI Insurance Services | $2,663,411 | 51 |
| IMA Financial | $2,466,667 | 40 |
| Gallagher | $2,022,137 | 24 |
| Willis Towers Watson | $1,684,514 | 12 |
| Marsh McLennan Agency | $1,514,418 | 13 |
| OneDigital | $1,477,116 | 15 |
| HUB International | $1,365,429 | 19 |
| Custom Benefit Programs Inc | $1,335,196 | 6 |
Largest medical carriers
Medical premium written for these employers.
Denver against Colorado 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.
| Denver | Colorado | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer plans | 349 | 1,040 | 58,547 |
| Median commission rate | n/a | 5.0% | 3.8% |
| Middle half of rates | n/a | 1.8% – 9.3% | 2.7% – 5.0% |
| Median broker pay per employer | $58,195 | $46,030 | $72,628 |
| Medical premium per covered person | n/a | n/a | $7,274 |
| Plans reporting no commission | 1 | 2 | 933 |
Year over year. In plan year 2023, 344 Denver employers reported $37M in premiums and $34M in broker pay for 296,107 participants; in 2024 it was $40M and $36M for 314,539 participants (premiums +9.1%, broker pay +6.6%).
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 Denver employers pay health insurance brokers?
349 Denver employers reported $35,837,325 in broker commissions and fees on their 2024 Form 5500 filings, 343 of them disclosing at least some compensation. Too few fully insured medical plans in Denver reported premium to compute a stable commission rate; the Colorado median is 5.0% and the U.S. median is 3.8%. In dollars, the median Denver employer that disclosed broker pay reported $58,195.
Which Denver employers have the largest health plans?
By insurance premium reported for 2024, Solace Healthcare, Inc. ($9.7M), Davita Inc. ($4.2M), Summit Materials ($2.2M) lead. 25 Denver employers are listed on this page; every employer in the record has its own page.
Which brokers and carriers are paid the most in Denver?
By compensation reported by Denver employers, the largest brokers are Lockton ($4.9M, 64 plans), Mercer ($3.0M, 24 plans), USI Insurance Services ($2.7M, 51 plans). By medical premium, the largest carriers are Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, University Health Alliance.
Are Denver employer health plans self-funded or fully insured?
Of 349 Denver employer plans, 56 are fully insured, 165 are self-funded and 128 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 Colorado
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