Most of today’s health plan designs are needlessly complex, piecemealing dozens of separate solutions into benefits packages that do little to actually support plan members.
When very few healthcare solutions are intentionally designed to work well together, members become increasingly frustrated trying to navigate the system in front of them — and, in some cases, even give up on accessing necessary care altogether.
As the platform to simplify healthcare, Vālenz Health® has set out on a mission to change that.
With our integrated, easily implemented approach to health plan solutions, we’re actively removing those obstacles and reducing the friction embedded in traditional plan designs. Valenz Variable Copay is the latest advancement in that strategy, offering an innovative design that is easily overlaid onto existing health plans — saving plan payers valuable time, money, and effort while supporting member access to smarter, better, faster healthcare.
Today, we’ll explain how our variable copay model works as part of an integrated healthcare model to eliminate the frustration and point-solution fatigue plaguing plan designers and members.
Employers and plan designers have spent years layering point solutions onto health plans in an attempt to solve ever-rising costs, improve care outcomes, and engage members.
Unfortunately, this incremental approach to benefits package design has often had the opposite effect — creating fragmentation, confusion, and low utilization by frustrated plan members.
Today, the majority of healthcare organizations are forced to manage 4–9 different digital point solutions at once. Many of these are created with a single pain point in mind, requiring employers and plan designers to layer in solution after solution to address the varied needs of a covered population.
This piecemeal approach causes immense friction for members, who face the logistical challenge of understanding which solution to use for specific care needs, when to use it, and how to access it among the other websites and apps included as part of their healthcare plan. It’s common for members to choose the path of least resistance and avoid using them altogether, as evidenced by a 2024 study that revealed only 5% of employees used traditional employee assistance programs (EAPs) in the span of 12 years.
While it may seem easy to add a new solution to meet members’ needs, this incremental approach to plan design can quickly spiral, costing more to maintain over time while creating a difficult point-solution hole that’s difficult for plan sponsors to climb out of.
More solutions do not necessarily equate to a better healthcare experience for members. And, with costs continually rising and member satisfaction stagnating, a piece-by-piece strategy to plan design is no longer enough for employers to stay ahead.
Instead, forward-thinking health plans are moving to integrate member-focused solutions directly into plan design from the start — not just as a bandage that attempts to cover up existing problems but with features that address the major challenges of today’s healthcare system at a foundational level.
This integrated approach to health plan design offers countless benefits for all stakeholders including:
ValenzONE is a prime example of this strategy in motion. As our integrated health plan optimizer, ValenzONE embeds directly into the plan design to optimize the cost, quality, and utilization of care from day one — influencing smarter, better, faster healthcare choices through member education, empowerment, and incentives.
Variable Copay acts as the cornerstone of this strategy: a cost-containment initiative that integrates directly into existing networks without the hassle of the traditional point-solution approach.
Variable copay models are a popular point-solution strategy for supporting higher-quality, lower-cost care among covered populations. In fact, when initially surveyed in 2025, 20% of employers with 500 or more employees were considering a variable copay plan model for 2026 or 2027.
Unfortunately, not all variable copay models are built the same.
Traditional variable copay models are often designed with a specific network in mind, which can frustrate members who are used to a particular provider or network as part of their health insurance coverage. That’s not even including the extra work that can be required on the part of the plan sponsors, who must redesign and/or switch their networks to take advantage of a variable copay model.
In addition, many of these models fail to take quality of care into account, which is a vital factor in improving overall health outcomes and not just the overall cost of care. Directing members to low-cost providers is no good if the care provided is not high-quality; receiving subpar care can increase costs later down the line for both members and the plan itself.
Our variable copay takes a different approach: allowing plan sponsors to use their existing provider networks and integrating care quality data for smarter, better, faster member decision making.
Powered by the Valenz Bluebook platform, Variable Copay is a scalable model that embeds directly into your existing network to direct health plan members to high-value, low-cost options at the procedure level — delivering more precise savings opportunities while preserving member choice and minimizing overall disruption.
Members can access the platform from day one to get transparent pricing information based on not only the cost of a procedure but also the care quality of the specific provider delivering it.
As a result, Variable Copay allows for quicker, long-term adoption by plan members for a superior return on investment, including an average savings of 7–12% for employers and out-of-pocket savings of 8–13% for employees.
As a seamlessly embedded cost-containment solution, Variable Copay represents the heart of our integrated ValenzONE model: an optimization platform that works with your existing plan, not around it, to deliver higher savings without the complexity of a traditional point-solution approach to healthcare.
And, to further support our mission of simplifying healthcare, Variable Copay can be implemented as part of the ValenzONE platform or on its own as an a la carte offering, with no bearing on its ability to immediately influence higher-quality, lower-cost care decisions by members.
Here at Valenz, we are committed to supporting smarter, better, faster healthcare in whichever ways work best for your plan. Together, let’s see how we can optimize your benefits strategy to eliminate point-solution fatigue, improve the member experience, and design a health plan built for the future.