For employers using captives to finance employee benefits, understanding what drives medical and pharmacy spending is essential to managing long-term program performance. Large claims, specialty medications and emerging treatments can create significant financial uncertainty, requiring captive owners to evaluate both their risk exposure and the effectiveness of their cost-management strategies.

This panel will explore how captive owners can use claims data and actuarial analysis to identify cost drivers, assess potential interventions and make informed decisions about their benefits programs. Through practical examples, speakers will examine approaches to managing high-cost medical and pharmacy exposure, coordinating benefits and captive strategies, and evaluating whether initiatives deliver measurable value while supporting access to appropriate care.

Following this session, attendees will be able to identify key medical and pharmacy cost drivers, evaluate strategies for managing those exposures within a captive-supported benefits program, and distinguish improvements in underlying healthcare costs from changes in how claims are financed.