Book
“Hacking” the Health Insurance Casino
A Platform to Transform Your Health Insurance Plan from an Expense into an Asset
A guide to help you:
- Move from system-decisions to self-decisions
- Gain access to your data to make healthcare better for your employees
- Lower your health insurance costs by adding tailored benefits
The American health-insurance system is like a casino where the house always wins—Captivated Health® is designed to help you improve your health insurance odds by putting the control in your hands.
For middle market employers (50-500 employees), CFOs, and HR leaders tired of endless rate hikes, Captivated Health reveals the platform and tactics to take control, gain transparency, and use confidence to influence better outcomes — saving cash and improving employee health and wellbeing.
What You’ll Gain
- A clear framework for using the Captivated Health® platform to reclaim decision-making power
- Proven strategies to break free from the “less-bad renewal” hamster wheel
- Leadership communication tools to evaluate and implement the Captivated Health pathway for your company
- Real-world case studies proving measurable cost reductions and impact for employees
ABOUT THE BOOK
Are you tired of watching your company’s health insurance costs skyrocket year after year?
If you’re a CFO, business owner, or HR leader, you know the frustration: yet another “less bad” renewal, double-digit rate hike, and that gut-wrenching sense that your choices are limited because you have no data to actually fix the root cause and solve the problem.
The American health insurance system is like a casino—the house always wins. There’s no way to improve your odds without understanding the design and rules of the game.
Here’s the good news: Mark S. Gaunya, GBA, has a health insurance hack for you. The Captivated Health® platform is designed to help you improve your health insurance odds by putting the control in your hands.
The Captivated Health platform will guide you to:
- Take Control by moving from system-decision to self-decision
- Gain Transparency as you free yourself from the “less bad renewal” cycle
- Leverage Confidence in your increased literacy to strategically influence outcomes
- Save Cash by reinvesting your dividends to create greater value for everyone
Whether you’re directly responsible for your company’s health insurance plan or you know someone who is, this book is for you. It’s time to understand the health insurance casino and learn how to play to win—for your bottom line and for the health and well-being of your people.
Start your journey toward taking control of your health insurance future with the Captivated Health platform today!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark S. Gaunya is a principal at Borislow Insurance and the Founder of Captivated Health, located in Boston, Massachusetts. He is an employee benefits advisor with over three decades of experience and a tireless, passionate advocate for transparency, consumerism, health, and well-being. He is a pioneer in the use of Consumer-Driven Health and Wellness Plans (CDHP) to lower healthcare costs and improve overall health, which is the genesis of Bend the Healthcare Trend, a book he co-authored in 2009, with the second edition released in 2017.
Mark was named as a national Top 30 Benefits Advisor to Watch by Employee Benefit News and Employee Benefit Adviser and was awarded Most Innovative Broker of the Year. In 2024 and 2025, the Captivated Health® platform earned recognition by Berkley Accident & Health for Excellence in Health Risk Management.
Mark was an eight-year Member of the Board of Directors for the Massachusetts Health Connector, a past National Legislative Council Chair for the National Association of Benefits & Insurance Professionals (NABIP), and the co-creator of the NABIP Healthcare Consumer Bill of Rights. Mark earned his GBA from Wharton, and he is certified in the ACA and Self-funding by NABIP.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island and resides in Hopkinton, MA.
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE BOOK COMPANION RESOURCES
- The Captive Report Card - a list of elements every plan sponsor should evaluate before entering into a captive model
- Consumer Bill of Rights - the ten principles created to move the conversation from politics to policy
- Consumer Bill of Rights Scorecard - The Assessment used to score every proposal where the recommended policy change must improve
- Captivated Health Community Assessment (Mindset) - the ideal mindset a Captivated Health member organization must embrace in order to gain access to the platform
- Captivated Health Risk Assessment (Financial) - A Scorecard to help you evaluate how an underwriter would look at the risk of your group.
Get instant access to the book companion resources
Want To Learn if the Captivated Health Platform is a Right-Fit for your company?
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Middle Market Employers with 50-500 employees, CFOs, owners, HR leaders, benefits consultants, and anyone responsible for employer-sponsored plans.
Captivated Health is not a solution for every organization. It was designed for the RIGHT organizations, determined by mindset and suitability (risk profile). Use the Assessments from our free resources to help determine if the Captivated Health platform is a right fit for your company.
When done right, health insurance can be an asset on the balance sheet. It’s always going to be an expense, but you’ll start to save money when you take control of your plan and use data-driven analytics and targeted point solutions to mitigate your risk.
We make the system work for you. It’s elegantly simple, and it requires a shift in how you perceive healthcare and insurance. We’ve built our platform around four principles: Members First, Consumerism, Health and Well-being, and Self-Governance.
The Captivated Health Platform helps CFOs and HR leaders hack the system and get off the hamster wheel of the “the less bad renewalIP”. Buy the book to learn more and download the companion resources.
Plan Leaders On Captivated Health: Real Results, Real Savings
“We were told to expect about a million dollars of savings over five years when we switched, and the projection landed true. Fast forward to the present, we have a soft landing spot annually of between $250,000 and $275,000, and that’s all in. We have added more benefits, which is beyond what we used to do when we were fully insured. Because of our savings, we are able to offer a variety of choices for our employees.”
Michael S. Komich, Senior Vice President for Finance and Operations at Cheverus High School (Portland, ME)
“One of the things to come out of Captivated Health is the boost to consumerism. We have folks now who understand that they can pick up the phone and ask how much a service is going to cost them. Instead of being faced with blank screens and an ambiguous bill, they can access information about price and quality. Most importantly, they know it’s their right to ask for that information, and we provide the support they need through the concierge.”
Kathleen Howe, Director of Finance and Operations at New Hampton School & Joe Williams, Head of School at New Hampton
“What I love most about Captivated Health is we stayed with the same carrier network of doctors and hospitals when we enrolled in the platform, and there were no changes in provider access for our team. We kept the same robust benefit plan we always had, and because we started saving money, we have been able to keep our employee premium contribution increases flat over the past five years. In fact, we’ve even started to reduce our employee premium contributions over the last two years. I don’t know how many engineering firms out there can say that they have actually been able to reduce the cost of health insurance that their employees are contributing to the plan without sacrificing any plan quality or benefits. We have had enough savings to be able to enhance our plan benefits, and that is the magic behind this health insurance solution.”
Lisa A. Brothers, Past President and CEO of Nitsch Engineering