Making healthcare work better for all of us
At Empowered Ventures, we’ve always known that our greatest strength lies in our people. As a 100% employee-owned company, we’ve built our success on the foundation that everyone has a stake in our collective future. But when it came to healthcare benefits, something wasn’t quite right.
Year after year, we found ourselves simply accepting whatever health insurance rates came our way. Our growing number of employee-owners across five operating companies watched as healthcare decisions seemed to happen to us, rather than by us or with us. We shared their frustration as premiums climbed higher and deductibles felt increasingly burdensome, especially for our families. In 2024, when claims exceeded our budget and premiums jumped by over 15%, we realized we needed to change our approach.
This wasn’t just about rising costs. Every dollar spent on premiums directly impacts our share price—and therefore, the wealth-building potential of every employee-owner. But more importantly, this was about living up to our core belief that business has a purpose beyond profits, and that our people come first, always.
That’s why we created Healthcare for Us (H4U).
H4U isn’t just another corporate initiative—it’s a fundamental shift in how we approach healthcare and benefits. It’s about empowering every employee-owner to wear both their “owner hat” and their “employee hat” when making healthcare decisions. It’s about creating an environment where healthcare and benefits literacy and wellness awareness aren’t just encouraged but are woven into the fabric of our culture.
We’re already seeing early signs of success. As we’ve opened up conversations about healthcare, more employee-owners are making informed choices about their plans, learning to find high-quality care at better costs, and understanding how their healthcare decisions impact their out-of-pocket expenses, their well-being, and ultimately EV’s share price.
But this is just the beginning. Our vision is to create a new normal where:
- Every employee-owner understands not just what benefits they have, but how to use them wisely;
- We share pertinent elements of our healthcare experiences openly, learning from each other’s successes and challenges;
- We all see the clear connection between our healthcare and benefits decisions and our company’s success; and
- Healthcare and benefits literacy, and wellness awareness, become a natural part of our conversation about creating life-changing financial and personal well-being outcomes.
Healthcare for Us is an investment in our collective future. It’s about taking control of what once seemed uncontrollable. Most importantly, it’s about staying true to who we are: an employee-owned company that believes in the power of informed, engaged people working together toward a common goal.
This isn’t a short-term fix—it’s an evergreen commitment to making healthcare work better for all of us. Because at Empowered Ventures, we’re not just building a successful business; we’re building a legacy where every employee-owner plays a vital role in our ongoing story.
Together, we can transform healthcare from a burden into an opportunity—an opportunity to demonstrate the true power of employee ownership, to invest in our collective well-being, and to create sustainable value for generations to come.
Welcome to Healthcare for Us. Welcome to healthcare that works for all of us.
