Pooling

Spreading catastrophic claim risk across many employers.

Pooling is the mechanism by which an insurer absorbs claims above a threshold rather than charging them to your group's experience. You pay a pooling charge; in exchange, a single very large claim does not fall entirely on your renewal.

Both the threshold and the charge are set by the insurer and both are negotiable. The pooling charge is one of the least-examined line items on a renewal report.

What this means for a BC plan

For smaller BC employers, pooling is what makes covering high-cost specialty drugs viable at all. Where a plan has one catastrophic claimant, confirming the claim was pooled correctly is the first thing to check on a renewal.

Related terms

Where this comes up

Why renewals increase · All glossary terms · Ask an advisor directly

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