Watertown, Massachusetts employer health plans: what they cost and who gets paid
Updated plan year 2024, the most recent complete year
17 employers in Watertown, Massachusetts filed health plans with 100 or more participants for plan year 2024, covering 5,197 participants. They reported $49M in insurance premiums and $2.3M in broker commissions and fees. Against 2023, premiums were up 2.5% and broker pay fell 1.0%.
Funding: 5 fully insured · 2 self-funded · 10 mixed. 12 of 17 plans pay at least some medical claims from the employer's own assets.
Largest employer health plans in Watertown
Watertown employers reporting the most insurance premium across every Schedule A contract, with what they paid brokers.
| Employer | Premiums | Broker pay | Participants | Top broker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. | $29,990,275 | $859,252 | 1,767 | Brown & Brown |
| Perkins School for the Blind | $7,020,149 | $211,856 | 715 | USI Insurance Services |
| New England Sports Network, Inc | $3,423,146 | $133,658 | 221 | Brown & Brown |
| Eyepoint Pharmaceuticals | $2,716,528 | $144,671 | 123 | Lockton |
| Foreign Auto Import Inc. | $2,075,839 | $69,301 | 135 | Gallagher |
| C4 Therapeutics, Inc. | $1,886,143 | $57,187 | 148 | Mercer |
| Apollo Intelligence Operating LLC | $1,495,884 | $67,343 | 112 | Robert Houghton |
| Treeline Biosciences, Inc | $250,425 | $37,753 | 171 | Marsh McLennan Agency |
| Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | $187,721 | $69,235 | 149 | Gallagher |
| Liaison International, LLC | $0 | $44,085 | 376 | Emerson Rogers LLC |
| Orna Therapeutics, Inc | $0 | $69,061 | 281 | Baystate Benefit Services |
| Beaverbrook Step, Inc. | $0 | $58,424 | 268 | Brown & Brown |
| Kymera Therapeutics, Inc | $0 | $99,084 | 198 | Marsh McLennan Agency |
| Dynamo Software, Inc | $0 | $40,984 | 172 | USI Insurance Services |
| Neumora Therapeutics, Inc. | $0 | $204,149 | 129 | Marsh McLennan Agency |
| Spike, Inc. dba Olympia Moving & Storage | $0 | $43,115 | 119 | Innovo Benefits Group |
| Addgene | $0 | $65,289 | 113 | Baystate Benefit Services |
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 Watertown employers, with the number of employer plans naming each broker.
| Broker | Commissions + fees | Plans |
|---|---|---|
| Brown & Brown | $935,119 | 3 |
| Marsh McLennan Agency | $340,986 | 3 |
| USI Insurance Services | $326,538 | 5 |
| Lockton | $144,451 | 1 |
| Gallagher | $134,824 | 4 |
| Baystate Benefit Services | $118,553 | 2 |
| Mercer | $57,642 | 2 |
| Emerson Rogers, LLC | $43,031 | 2 |
| Innovo Benefits Group | $41,870 | 1 |
| Strategic Non-Medical Solution | $35,577 | 1 |
Largest medical carriers
Medical premium written for these employers.
Watertown against Massachusetts 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.
| Watertown | Massachusetts | United States | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employer plans | 17 | 1,864 | 58,547 |
| Median commission rate | n/a | 2.5% | 3.8% |
| Middle half of rates | n/a | 2.0% – 3.2% | 2.7% – 5.0% |
| Median broker pay per employer | $69,061 | $75,078 | $72,628 |
| Medical premium per covered person | n/a | $8,072 | $7,274 |
| Plans reporting no commission | 0 | 18 | 933 |
Year over year. In plan year 2023, 21 Watertown employers reported $48M in premiums and $2.3M in broker pay for 5,216 participants; in 2024 it was $49M and $2.3M for 5,197 participants (premiums +2.5%, broker pay −1.0%).
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 Watertown employers pay health insurance brokers?
17 Watertown employers reported $2,274,447 in broker commissions and fees on their 2024 Form 5500 filings, 17 of them disclosing at least some compensation. Too few fully insured medical plans in Watertown reported premium to compute a stable commission rate; the Massachusetts median is 2.5% and the U.S. median is 3.8%. In dollars, the median Watertown employer that disclosed broker pay reported $69,061.
Which Watertown employers have the largest health plans?
By insurance premium reported for 2024, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. ($30M), Perkins School for the Blind ($7.0M), New England Sports Network, Inc ($3.4M) lead. 17 Watertown employers are listed on this page; every employer in the record has its own page.
Which brokers and carriers are paid the most in Watertown?
By compensation reported by Watertown employers, the largest brokers are Brown & Brown ($935,119, 3 plans), Marsh McLennan Agency ($340,986, 3 plans), USI Insurance Services ($326,538, 5 plans). By medical premium, the largest carriers are Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Inc., Cigna Health and Life Insurance Company, Blue Cross of Idaho.
Are Watertown employer health plans self-funded or fully insured?
Of 17 Watertown employer plans, 5 are fully insured, 2 are self-funded and 10 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 Massachusetts
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