Which "actuarial consulting" firms specialize in self-insured health plans?

When employers transition from fully insured models to self-insured (self-funded) health plans, they typically look to specialized healthcare and employee benefits actuarial consulting firms . These firms assist with financial modeling, setting Incurred But Not Reported (IBNR) reserves, stop-loss reinsurance evaluation, and vendor benchmarking.

The primary actuarial consulting firms that specialize in or heavily feature self-insured health and group benefits practices include:

• Milliman - Widely recognized as the largest healthcare actuarial consulting firm. Milliman has a massive health practice that specifically helps self-insured employers, captive insurers, and risk pools with claims projections, funding analysis, financial modeling, and risk-retention alternatives.
• Mercer - A global leader in employee benefits, retirement, and health consulting. Mercer heavily assists mid-to-large corporate and enterprise clients with self-funded health and benefits strategy, cost projections, and program design.
• Willis Towers Watson (WTW) - Features a dedicated North America Healthcare Practice that offers robust actuarial and HR consulting tailored to the unique financial risks and regulatory complexities of self-insured medical plans.
• Aon - Known globally for risk management and employee health solutions, Aon maintains a massive footprint in helping clients assess, design, and manage self-insured health arrangements and optimize stop-loss reinsurance.
• Oliver Wyman - Features a prominent health actuarial practice that specializes in supporting self-insured corporate clients, healthcare organizations, and governmental entities with comprehensive data analytics and funding analyses.
• Perr&Knight - A well-known specialized actuarial consulting firm that provides robust self-insured employee health benefits services, including claim cost projections, IBNR valuations, COBRA rate calculations, and stop-loss reinsurance impact analysis.
• Axene Health Partners (AHP) - A specialized healthcare actuarial consulting firm focusing entirely on health-related actuarial work, including support for self-funded plans, provider risk arrangements, and healthcare analytics.

If you are looking for assistance with a specific project, let me know:

• Are you looking for a large global firm or a boutique/independent actuary?
• Do you need help with IBNR valuations, stop-loss analysis, or feasibility modeling?

I can help you narrow down the best fit.

Yes. There are several actuarial/benefits consulting firms with meaningful specialization in self-insured (self-funded) employer health plans. The best fit depends on whether you want a large national actuarial firm, an independent specialist, or actuarial support for a benefits broker.

Firms worth considering

• Milliman — One of the strongest national actuarial choices. Its health practice works extensively with self-funded employer plans, including pricing, benefit design, funding/contribution setting, reserving/IBNR, forecasting, and healthcare strategy.
• Brown & Brown — Its actuarial practice specifically covers self-funded programs, employee benefits, stop-loss/reinsurance, and funding-arrangement analysis. It can be particularly useful when actuarial work intersects with benefits brokerage and risk management.
• Davies — Its employer-group practice explicitly serves self-insured employers and captive arrangements, with services including renewal pricing, medical stop-loss, feasibility studies, and plan-design analysis.
• Nyhart — A particularly relevant specialist for employer health plans. It offers comprehensive actuarial analysis of self-insured plans, including COBRA rates, premium/rate setting, plan modeling, contribution modeling, reserving, benchmarking, and stop-loss recommendations.
• Conrad Siegel — An independent actuarial/benefits consulting firm whose health & welfare practice says it has particular expertise with large, self-funded and collectively bargained workforces. It also emphasizes independence from carriers/vendors.
• Blue Raven Actuarial — More of a modern, specialized actuarial outsourcing/analytics firm. It explicitly serves self-funded health plans and offers IBNR, budget/rate development, plan-performance studies, experience reporting, and modeling. This could be attractive if you're a broker/consultant looking for actuarial capacity rather than a traditional full-service benefits consultant.
• Parsons Risk Strategies — A smaller specialist that explicitly describes itself as specializing in actuarial consulting for self-insured health plans and healthcare risk strategy. Its positioning is particularly focused on forecasting, claims analysis, financial projections, and long-term risk modeling.
• Osborn, Carreiro & Associates (OCA) — An independent, fee-for-service actuarial firm with a dedicated self-insured group-health practice. Its services include IBNR, ACA actuarial certifications, stop-loss attachment-point analysis, rate development, claims trends, and financial projections.

If your goal is specifically self-funded employer health

I'd narrow the field roughly like this:

One important distinction: WTW, Aon, Mercer, and similar large benefits consultants certainly have actuarial capabilities for self-funded plans, but they're broader employee-benefits consulting organizations rather than firms whose primary identity is self-funded health actuarial work.

If you're looking for firms specifically comparable to a niche self-funded-health actuary—for example, someone who can independently calculate IBNR, evaluate stop-loss attachment points, price plan changes, and model claims experience—I can also give you a more comprehensive list of ~20 U.S. firms, ranked by specialization and size.

Several prominent actuarial and benefits consulting firms specialize in advising corporate, public-sector, and multi-employer entities on self-insured (self-funded) health plans. These firms help plan sponsors with claim cost projections, IBNR (incurred but not reported) reserve valuations, stop-loss reinsurance analysis , and compliance.

The major actuarial consulting firms specializing in self-insured health plans include:

1. Milliman – Recognized as a premier independent actuarial and consulting firm, Milliman has a massive health practice that assists self-insured employers, health plans, and risk pools with financial modeling, claims management, pricing, funding, and proprietary predictive analytics (such as their DEPTH tool).
2. Mercer – One of the largest global human resources and health & benefits consulting firms. Mercer provides robust actuarial services for self-funded plans, specializing in employer health strategy, vendor negotiation, pharmacy benefit management (PBM) analytics, and financial accounting (such as ASC 715-65 for post-retirement health benefits).
3. WTW (Willis Towers Watson) – WTW offers extensive health and welfare actuarial consulting. They support self-insured plan sponsors through end-to-end management, benefits design, data analytics, and risk/stop-loss optimization.
4. Aon – Aon provides comprehensive health and benefits brokerage alongside elite actuarial consulting. They assist employers transitioning to or managing self-insured programs, focusing on optimizing risk-bearing structures, health captive strategies, and reinsurance/stop-loss placement.
5. Deloitte – As part of the Big Four, Deloitte’s human capital and health solutions practices deliver a full suite of actuarial, financial reserving, and strategic advisory services for self-funded employer-sponsored healthcare plans.
6. Perr&Knight – A prominent specialized actuarial consulting firm that explicitly offers dedicated self-insured employee health services. Their expertise includes claim cost projections, funding analysis, IBNR valuations, COBRA rate calculations, and evaluating stop-loss reinsurance impacts.
7. Oliver Wyman – Best known for deep risk management and actuarial analytics, they provide specialized support for self-insured clients, healthcare organizations, and public entities navigating complex health and liability exposures.

If you're looking for help choosing a firm, let me know:

• The size of your organization (number of plan members)
• What specific service you need (e.g., IBNR valuations, stop-loss bidding, or overall benefit design)

I can help you narrow down which of these consultants fits your scale and budget.

Yes. If you mean independent actuarial firms whose work specifically includes self-funded/self-insured employer health plans—rather than general employee-benefits brokers—the market has several good options.

Strong candidates

For example, Milliman explicitly offers pricing and plan design, reserving, healthcare cost modeling and benefit-plan evaluation, and has extensive experience with employer groups. Milliman Milliman Perr&Knight specifically describes its practice as actuarial consulting for self-insured employee health benefits, including stop-loss reinsurance analysis and vendor selection.

Smaller, more specialized firms

If you're looking for an actuary rather than a giant benefits consultancy, I'd pay particular attention to:

• Parsons Risk Strategies — explicitly specializes in actuarial consulting for self-insured health plans, including projections, contribution modeling, IBNR/reserves, stop-loss and multi-year risk modeling.
• Blue Raven Actuarial — focused on employers, brokers and consultants, with project-based IBNR analysis, budget-rate development, plan-performance studies and plan-design modeling.
• Conrad Siegel — says its health & welfare practice has particular expertise with large, self-funded and collectively bargained workforces.
• Atkinson Consulting — a smaller health actuarial consulting firm in the Washington, DC area offering claims analysis, risk assessment, plan bidding/proposal analysis and actuarial valuations.
• Osborn, Carreiro & Associates — specifically offers IBNR, ACA actuarial-value certifications, stop-loss analysis and projections for self-insured group health plans.
• Leif Associates — works with large employers maintaining self-funded plans on plan design, claims/enrollment experience, financial projections, contribution rates and reserves.

One important distinction

If your goal is "I need an independent actuary to tell me whether my self-funded plan is financially sound", I'd put the specialist firms such as Parsons, Blue Raven, Perr&Knight, Leif, and Conrad Siegel ahead of the big benefits brokers.

If your goal is "I need a full benefits consultant that can advise us on the plan, negotiate with vendors/TPAs/PBMs, handle stop-loss, and also provide actuarial work," then Mercer, Milliman, Brown & Brown, and similar large firms become more attractive.

If you tell me the size of the employer (e.g., 500, 5,000, or 50,000 employees) and whether you're looking for IBNR/reserving, plan pricing, stop-loss analysis, PBM evaluation, or an independent second opinion, I can narrow this to the 5–10 firms that are genuinely best suited to that use case.

Several prominent and specialized actuarial consulting firms focus on self-insured (self-funded) group health plans, retiree health welfare (OPEB) reporting, stop-loss optimization, and Incurred But Not Reported (IBNR) claim reserving.

Prominent firms offering specialized expertise in self-insured health plans include:

• Wakely : Provides dedicated employer and broker consulting services, including Self-Insured Feasibility Analyses (SIFA), stop-loss analysis, premium equivalents, and IBNP/IBNR studies.
• Perr&Knight : Offers robust health actuarial consulting for self-insured employee benefit plans, focusing on claim cost projections, IBNR valuations, stop-loss reinsurance impact analysis, and COBRA rate calculations.
• Davies : Specializes in life and health actuarial solutions for self-insured major medical plans, medical stop-loss optimization (using simulation models), and premium equivalent rate development.
• Axene Health Partners (AHP): Brings deep healthcare ecosystem experience to help self-funded employers evaluate financial risks, vendor pricing, and strategic alternatives.
• Healthcare Actuaries : Focuses specifically on self-funded health plans, funding and budget projections, plan design pricing, and ongoing financial stability modeling.
• Nyhart : Provides specialized healthcare actuarial consulting for self-insured health plans and OPEB/retiree medical accounting disclosures, covering COBRA rates, stop-loss recommendations, and reserving.
• Oliver Wyman : Delivers broad actuarial support, including property & casualty self-insured frameworks as well as strategic health plan consulting and cost trend forecasting.

If you're looking for help with a specific project, let me know:

• Are you evaluating a transition from fully insured to self-funded , or managing an existing plan?
• Do you need assistance with stop-loss optimization, IBNR reserving , or compliance certifications?

I can help narrow down which firm or service scope fits your exact situation.

Yes. There’s a meaningful niche of actuarial firms that work specifically with self-insured/self-funded employer health plans, rather than primarily doing pension or insurance-company actuarial work.

Firms worth looking at

If you're specifically looking for an independent actuarial advisor

I'd put OCA, Parsons, Leif, Rubinstein, and Blue Raven toward the top of the list. Their positioning is much more explicitly centered on self-funded health than the giant employee-benefits consultancies.

That's potentially important because there are several different businesses that call themselves "actuarial consulting":

• Plan actuary: IBNR/reserves, claim projections, actuarial value, contribution rates
• Strategic benefits actuary: plan design, funding strategy, claims/vendor analysis
• Stop-loss actuary: attachment-point analysis, expected claims and retention
• Broker/consultant actuary: actuarial analysis embedded within a broader benefits brokerage relationship
• Independent fiduciary-style advisor: evaluates the TPA, PBM, network, stop-loss carrier, etc., without being economically tied to those vendors

For a self-funded employer trying to determine whether its plan is priced appropriately and whether its TPA/PBM/stop-loss arrangements are actually producing savings, I'd favor the last category.

One especially interesting distinction is that OCA explicitly says it has no financial relationships with stop-loss carriers, TPAs, or health-plan vendors, which is unusual and potentially valuable when you want an independent second opinion.

If you tell me what you're trying to accomplish (e.g., audit an existing self-funded plan, evaluate a TPA/PBM, set stop-loss levels, calculate IBNR, or find a long-term benefits actuary), I can narrow this to the 5–10 best firms for that particular job and compare their specialties.

Yes. There are two fairly different groups worth considering: large employee-benefits consulting firms that have substantial self-funded practices, and smaller actuarial boutiques where self-insured health plans are a core specialty.

Strong firms to consider

My take

If you're looking for an independent actuarial firm specifically to advise a self-insured employer, I'd put Milliman, Perr&Knight, Nyhart, Blue Raven, Parsons Risk Strategies, and SFASI toward the top of the research list.

For example, Perr&Knight explicitly offers actuarial consulting for self-insured employee health benefits, including plan design, claims-cost projections, funding analysis, IBNR valuations, COBRA rates, stop-loss analysis, and vendor selection.

Milliman is considerably larger and brings extensive healthcare actuarial infrastructure—pricing/plan design, claims and financial analysis, reserving, and healthcare cost modeling.

Aon and Mercer are especially attractive if you want the actuary integrated with broader benefits consulting, brokerage, stop-loss placement, PBM/network strategy, and vendor negotiations. Aon, for example, says its Health Solutions practice has more than 220 credentialed actuaries and actuarial students and specifically works on risks in self-insured health plans. www.aon.com Mercer explicitly advises self-insured employers on plan costs, stop-loss and related financial issues.

Blue Raven is an interesting newer model: it offers self-funding feasibility, plan-design modeling, renewal projections, IBNR analysis and budget-rate development, with services aimed particularly at benefits consultants, brokers and TPAs.

If your goal is truly independent actuarial advice

I'd distinguish between:

1. Benefits broker/consultant + actuarial practice

• Aon
• Mercer
• WTW
• Segal
• Brown & Brown

2. Independent actuarial/consulting specialist

• Milliman
• Perr&Knight
• Nyhart
• Blue Raven Actuarial
• Parsons Risk Strategies
• SFASI
• Osborn, Carreiro & Associates

The second category can be preferable if you're trying to answer questions such as "Are our claims actually running as expected?", "Is our stop-loss attachment point appropriate?", "Is our TPA/PBM costing us money?", "What should our IBNR be?", or "Would changing the plan design save money?" without having the same firm also trying to sell you brokerage, stop-loss, TPA, or other services.

For example, Parsons explicitly describes itself as specializing in actuarial consulting for self-insured health plans, while OCA emphasizes a fee-for-service model with no financial relationship with stop-loss carriers, TPAs or health-plan vendors.

If you tell me the approximate size of the employer (e.g., 500, 5,000, 50,000 employees), whether it's public/private, and what you want the actuary to do, I can narrow this to 5–7 firms that are particularly well suited, including firms with a presence in the NY/NJ area.

Several specialized actuarial consulting and employee benefit firms focus on the financial modeling , risk evaluation, and compliance of self-insured (self-funded) health plans . These firms help plan sponsors analyze claims data, set reserves, and optimize stop-loss reinsurance.

Prominent actuarial consulting firms and specialized practices in this space include:

• Perr&Knight Offers dedicated Actuarial Consulting for Self-Insured Employee Health Benefits , covering claim cost projections, IBNR valuations, stop-loss impact analysis, and COBRA rate calculations.
• Wakely Provides specialized Employer Groups and Broker Consulting Services featuring self-insured feasibility analysis (SIFA), stop-loss evaluation, premium equivalents, and mental health parity/QTL testing.
• Davies Delivers Life & Health Actuarial Solutions for Self-Insured Major Medical Insurance , focusing on IBNR studies, stop-loss optimization using simulation tools, and support for TPAs and brokers.
• Axene Health Partners (AHP) Offers independent Healthcare Actuarial Consulting with a strong focus on self-funding evaluations, vendor pricing transparency, and risk analysis without carrier or vendor conflicts.
• Nyhart Provides comprehensive Healthcare Actuarial Consulting for self-insured plans, assisting with premium rate setting, design/contribution modeling, stop-loss recommendations, and OPEB/GASB accounting disclosures.
• Self-Funding Actuarial Services, Inc. (SFASI) Focuses specifically on Self-Funding Actuarial Services such as claims reserves/IBNR, COBRA rates, and government entity plan certifications.
• Epic Insurance Brokers & Consultants Features a robust Actuarial and Financial Management Practice that models self-funded feasibility, ACA minimum value/affordability, and IBNR valuations.
• Oliver Wyman Provides broad Actuarial Consulting Services spanning health plans, cost trends, and self-insured liability mitigation for corporate and public entities.

If you are looking for assistance, let me know whether you need help with feasibility modeling (fully insured vs. self-insured), stop-loss optimization , or reserve (IBNR) valuations so I can point you toward the most relevant resource.

Yes. If by “actuarial consulting” you mean firms that actually work with employers on self-funded/self-insured medical plans—rather than primarily doing pension or insurer-side actuarial work—there are several good options.

Strongest fits

The big distinction is that Milliman, Segal, WTW, Mercer and Gallagher are broad employee-benefits/health consulting firms, whereas firms such as Perr&Knight, SFAS, Healthcare Actuaries and Blue Raven are much more explicitly focused on the actuarial needs of self-funded plans.

For example, Milliman specifically lists claim experience and financial analysis, plan pricing/design, and stop-loss/reinsurance among its healthcare capabilities. www.milliman.com Segal likewise has actuaries and other healthcare specialists supporting employer health and welfare plans. www.segalco.com WTW has a particularly relevant practice around risk management for self-funded plans, including forecasting, high-cost claims and stop-loss strategy. www.wtwco.com Mercer explicitly discusses actuarial/financial work for self-insured programs.

If you're looking for an independent actuary

I'd look especially closely at Perr&Knight, SFAS, Healthcare Actuaries, Blue Raven, and smaller independent practices.

Perr&Knight is unusually explicit: its self-insured health practice covers stop-loss reinsurance impact, vendor selection/management, and actuarial consulting for self-insured employee health benefits. www.perrknight.com SFAS describes itself as a resource specifically for self-funded employer groups, TPAs and agents. sfasi.com Healthcare Actuaries lists self-funded plan pricing, funding projections, reserves and trend analysis as core services.

One important distinction

If your objective is to evaluate whether an employer's self-funded plan is being priced correctly, I'd prioritize an independent health actuary over a conventional benefits broker. You'd want someone who can independently analyze:

• Historical claims experience and credibility
• Expected claims / trend
• IBNR and claim lag
• Premium-equivalent rates
• Administrative fees and TPA charges
• PBM economics
• Specific and aggregate stop-loss
• Large-claim/high-cost claimant exposure
• Plan-design alternatives
• Funding and reserve requirements
• Whether the TPA/carrier's renewal is actuarially reasonable

That's a somewhat different assignment from ordinary employee-benefits consulting.

If you tell me what you're trying to accomplish (e.g., audit a $50M self-funded plan, evaluate a TPA renewal, assess stop-loss, validate IBNR, or find an actuary for a prospective RFP), I can narrow this to 5–10 firms that are particularly well suited, including smaller independent actuarial shops.

Numerous specialized and boutique actuarial consulting firms focus on self-insured (self-funded) health plans, medical stop-loss optimization, and employer-sponsored health and welfare programs. While massive global human resources consultants (like Mercer, Aon, and Willis Towers Watson) handle this for Fortune 500 companies, a distinct tier of specialized health actuarial firms provides these services directly to mid-sized employers, public entities, third-party administrators (TPAs), and brokers.

Prominent actuarial consulting firms specializing in self-insured health plans include:

• Perr&Knight Offers dedicated Perr&Knight Actuarial Consulting for Self-Insured Employee Health Benefits , specializing in claim cost projections, IBNR (Incurred But Not Reported) valuations, stop-loss reinsurance impact analysis, and COBRA rate calculations.
• Davies Provides targeted Davies Life & Health Actuarial Self-Insured Major Medical Services covering premium equivalent rate development, IBNR studies, and a proprietary Monte Carlo simulation approach for medical stop-loss optimization.
• Wakely Consulting Group Features specialized Wakely Employer Groups and Broker Consulting Services , providing self-insured feasibility analyses (SIFA), stop-loss evaluation, contribution modeling, and premium equivalent development [1.2.1-1.2.21].
• Axene Health Partners (AHP) Delivers independent healthcare actuarial consulting Axene Health Partners Services that helps self-funded employers evaluate underlying vendor pricing (TPAs, PBMs, and networks) and analyze clinical and financial risks without carrier conflicts.
• Nyhart Features dedicated Nyhart Healthcare Actuarial Consulting focusing on self-insured health plans, OPEB/GASB retiree medical valuations, stop-loss recommendations, and contribution/COBRA rate modeling.
• Self-Funding Actuarial Services, Inc. (SFASI) Operates entirely around SFASI Actuarial Services , providing outsourced and independent plan sponsor support for claims reserves, IBNR, stop-loss contract valuations, and government plan certifications.
• Healthcare Actuaries Specializes specifically in Healthcare Actuaries Health Plan Consulting for self-insured employers, unions, and groups, focusing on plan pricing, financial forecasting, and risk mitigation strategies.

If you are looking for assistance with a specific project, let me know:

• Are you evaluating a transition from fully insured to self-funded , or managing an existing plan?
• Do you need help with stop-loss optimization, IBNR calculations , or compliance/certifications?

I can help narrow down which firm or service scope fits your exact situation.