In The News:USA Today

In August, Berneche told his employees that their group health insurance would end that month. Between premium increases and mounting state and federal rules, offering insurance was costing the company too much — $846,000 a year. 

After he [Berneche] canceled the group plan, he...signed on. Cardinal puts $100 to $200 a month into each employee's health reimbursement account. Even if Berneche carries out his plan to nearly double the size of his company, he still expects to save at least $360,000 this year with the new program. 

Many employees were able to buy individual policies for less than the monthly amount put in by Cardinal, Berneche says. The money also can be used for eyeglasses, dental care and other medical expenses. 

"This may be the future of health insurance," says Trikolas, CEO of Ilios Partners in Chicago, which plans to switch its 100 employees from group to individual coverage this year. 

We have employees who have families with young kids, some have older kids and some employees are single," Davis says. "Those scenarios present widely varying health care needs. Something like this gives us and our employees a little more flexibility.