For Employers · Self-Funded Strategy

Stop-Loss Risk Simulator

See exactly where your risk ends and the carrier's begins. Model the claims you keep, the catastrophic dollars you transfer, and the single most important number in any self-funded plan — your maximum exposure in a bad year.

The Risk Tower

Where your risk ends

Everything below the dashed line is yours to pay (retained claims). The gold band is your aggregate corridor — the risk margin between expected claims and your ceiling. Above it, the carrier takes over.

Fixed costs are itemized — premium and admin you pay no matter what claims do. Maximum exposure = your aggregate attachment point plus these fixed costs.

Three Years, Three Outcomes

Favorable · Expected · Severe

Claims are right-skewed — a bad year sits further from average than a good one. Each column is your all-in cost; the gold cap shows what stop-loss absorbed before it reached the ceiling. Click a column to drive the Specific Stop-Loss view below.

Fixed costs
Retained claims
Absorbed by stop-loss

Specific Stop-Loss

High-cost claimants & lasers

Each known catastrophic claimant against your specific deductible. Navy is what you retain; gold is what the carrier reimburses above the deductible. Toggle a laser to raise one person's deductible in exchange for lower premium — and watch your retained risk move.

How Aggressive Should You Be?

Attachment sensitivity

Slide your specific deductible across its full range. A higher deductible saves premium in a good year but widens the downside. The navy line is your expected cost; the gold line is a severe year.

Expected-year cost
Severe-year cost

Self-Funded vs. Fully-Insured

The strategic case

A fully-insured premium is flat — you pay the carrier's markup every year regardless of claims, and they keep the surplus. Self-funding lets you keep the savings in good years, with stop-loss capping the bad ones.

How to read this: This simulator is an illustrative planning model built on current mid-market stop-loss conventions — not a quote, a binder, or an actuarial certification. Premium rates, lasers, and contract terms are subject to underwriting on your group's actual census and claims experience. Use it to frame the strategy conversation; use a quote to make the decision.