Quick answer
Handl Health is a parallel intelligence platform that unifies negotiated rates, plan and member data, claims and quality into a single data lake for self-funded health plans. Employers and their brokers use Handl to evaluate networks, design cost-effective benefits, and continuously monitor plan performance — powered by carrier machine-readable files and AI-enabled analytics.
Key takeaways
- Handl combines negotiated rates, plan data, claims and quality into one integrated data lake
- The platform serves three broker profiles: self-funded clients (100–5,000 employees), data-driven brokers seeking deep analysis, and consulting-model brokers who want intelligence behind their brand
- Nearly 75% of U.S. employers are self-funded, yet most lack the technology to properly evaluate their plans
- Employers lose more than $2,000 per employee annually on poor network design and opaque pricing
- AI removes high-friction manual tasks, enabling brokers to operate at a level of granularity previously impossible
What is parallel intelligence for self-funded health plans?
Handl Health is a parallel intelligence platform for self-funded health plans. It all starts with a transparent and integrated data lake, combining disparate and hard-to-parse healthcare information like negotiated rates, plan and member data, claims and quality. Handl uses all that data to give employers an integrated plan and member intelligence view — analyzing and developing high-value, low-cost health plans to reduce the medical insurance cost burden that's crushing employers.
Who benefits most from Handl?
Three types of customers thrive with Handl:
- Brokers with self-funded or level-funded clients, typically 100 to 5,000 employees, where the employer actually bears the risk and has real dollars to move.
- Brokers frustrated with giving clients an arbitrary discount instead of showing up with deep analysis based on their actual data.
- Brokers looking to remain in a client consultant role. Handl sits behind you, your brand, your relationship front and center. Handl simply provides the intelligence to advise with conviction.
How is Handl Health using AI to transform benefits?
There's a lot of hype — but also a lot of fear and scaremongering — about how AI is using personal information. As we continue to integrate AI into healthcare operations, we need to constantly monitor that guardrails are in place, with strict control over how data is used.
The promise of AI doing onerous tasks for us is too great to ignore. With AI, we become experts who can make better decisions, overseeing the technology to enable us to operate at a scope and level that we haven't been able to before.
Handl's first AI Hackathon
At Handl Health, we recently turned inward on a quest to discover where we can better use AI to streamline how we work. In our first AI Hackathon, groups from across the company took 45 minutes to establish usable AI prototypes for organizational workflows.
Once implemented, these hacks will increase productivity across completely different functions: improved internal communication for product roadmapping, faster mapping of customer insights to product debugging, and more effective sales prospecting tools.
So how does Handl Health now view AI in our operations? AI removes high-friction, manual tasks, empowering us to operate at a much higher scope and ultimately create more value for customers. We also see AI as a resource that enables every team to execute faster by ensuring that data, tools and processes accelerate work.
How does Handl serve brokers, health plans and working families?
With AI as a collaborator, health tech companies can truly change the healthcare narrative — combating rising costs and improving quality. We serve the people who carry the responsibility of making healthcare affordable and accessible for working people and their families.
We give health plans, brokers and plan sponsors the data to understand what healthcare really costs; the infrastructure to design and deploy plans that improve outcomes and reduce waste; and the tools to prove it all works.
Frequently asked questions
What is parallel intelligence in healthcare?
Parallel intelligence means combining multiple data streams — negotiated rates, claims, plan design, quality metrics — simultaneously to give a complete, real-time view of plan performance. Unlike siloed tools, a parallel intelligence platform reveals the full picture so employers and brokers can act on data rather than guesses.
What types of data does Handl Health ingest?
Handl ingests carrier machine-readable files (MRFs) for negotiated rates, plan and member data, claims history, and quality metrics. These are combined in a unified data lake that powers network evaluation, plan design and performance monitoring.
Which employers are best suited for a self-funded health plan?
Self-funded plans are typically best for employers with 100 or more employees who want to control healthcare costs directly. Handl primarily serves self-funded and level-funded groups of 100 to 5,000 employees, where employers bear real risk and have meaningful dollars to optimize.
How does Handl Health work with brokers?
Handl operates as a behind-the-scenes platform that empowers brokers without displacing their client relationship. Brokers stay front and center with their brand and relationship; Handl provides the actuarial intelligence they need to advise with conviction and create measurable plan improvements.
What is an alternative health plan?
An alternative health plan is a non-traditional employer health plan that goes beyond standard network discounts. Examples include reference-based pricing, cash-pay models, tiered provider networks and HRA-funded designs. Handl provides the analytics and activation infrastructure to design, deploy and monitor these plans.
How is AI used in health insurance plan management?
AI is used to automate high-friction analytical tasks. At Handl, AI enables brokers to deliver granular analysis at a scope that was previously impossible.
Can Handl Health monitor an existing health plan's performance?
Yes. Handl continuously monitors plan performance by repricing claims as they come through, verifying whether the plan is paying according to network contracts, and confirming that plan design is driving the intended cost containment. This ongoing analytics capability is a core part of the platform.
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