“A Win-win:” First Round Offers Better Dental Coverage, While Saving 47%
In 2018, First Round Capital invested in Level, seeing the massive opportunity for making employee benefits as simple to access and use as cash. And when the firm’s People and Finance team reviewed Level for themselves, they knew they wanted to bring better benefits to their teams. To Chrissie O’Neill, First Round’s Staff Accountant, Level was a “no brainer.” As she shares:
"Level is a win-win for all involved. It's great to offer coverage for employees while costing us less through self-insurance."
Traditional coverage meant overpaying for insurance
First Round previously offered group dental insurance. While standard for small to medium-sized companies, group insurance can be costly—even for the most basic dental coverage. According to Chrissie, their previous group coverage cost nearly twice as much as Level for nearly half the coverage.
Plus, networks could be restrictive. When switching coverage, Chrissie would often field complaints that people's favorite providers were no longer covered. This had a big impact when many teammates shared the same local dentists.
The People team was excited to offer a dental plan that offered bigger benefits, while ditching the high premium.
Level enables bigger benefits, including orthodontia
Level puts both employers and employees in control of their benefits: HR teams can customize their dental and vision offerings, and employees can decide how and where to spend their benefits budget.
With Level’s flexible plans, First Round employees now:
- Get adult orthodontia coverage. It’s a benefit that people often want but isn’t typically offered at companies with small teams. Level even includes teeth straightening treatments like Invisalign.
- See any provider. With Level’s flexible plans, First Round employees can see any provider, no matter if they’re in or out of network. “People really enjoy that aspect of Level,” shares Chrissie.
- Have a big benefits budget. With an annual maximum and no copays, Level flexible plans are simple and easy to understand. First Round employees have a generous budget of $3,000 that they can choose how to spend.
Plus, Level's mobile app and fast claims systems makes it easy for people to manage their benefits spend. Claims are processed in a matter of minutes, not months. In fact, 88 percent of Level claims are processed the same day.
"Employees love the app. People can get the info they need on-the-go. It's a no brainer to offer better benefits and technology for things like accessing providers and submitting claims."
A win-win for everyone
Since switching to Level, First Round has saved over 47 percent on their dental coverage from their previous year. Those types of savings are especially impressive given that the company also added adult orthodontia to their plan.
Plus, Level saves Chrissie time. She no longer has to field employee questions about coverage or networks. Instead, Level’s plans are expansive and easy to understand. With better self-serve tools, the First Round team loves their dental plans and modern benefits experience. Chrissie shares:
"We now call the shots on our coverage and customize it to what our employees value. It's super rare to have coverage on adult orthodontia. I'm proud we can offer that for them, while saving money for the company."
