Downers' Grove resident Doug Truax, founder and CEO of Everlong Captive Health Insurance Co., has played many roles in his life as a father, veteran, business owner, volunteer in the local community and former candidate for U.S. Senate.
Truax began hosting a podcast in 2021 where he discusses different aspects of captive health insurance - policies that are owned, controlled and self-funded by the company rather than by an outside insurer.
"The reason we’re doing all this is because the costs are just too high," Truax said.
Everlong has one client with about 170 - 180 employees that has saved $2.3 million through self-funding health insurance, said Truax.
"It’s a multi-generational, family-owned automotive group - car dealerships, credit facilities, safety supply services," he said. "Before they joined our captive, they had an issue because they couldn’t find a model that looked more like what their industry looks like. Being car people, they wanted the best deal, with transparency while minimizing variable costs, and so they found that in what we do. So we basically presented an approach to stabilize, and lowered all their renewal trends while providing full pass-through transparency and relationship-driven innovation."
Everlong has a very high client retention rate, the CEO said.
"Aside from being acquired, dropping below 50 employees on the plan or going out of business, if the client leaves the program in the first two years, we’ll refund 100% of our fees from over that time," he said. "Now, that is a better way to purchase group health insurance and level of commitment to our captive owner members that simply can’t be matched."
Brokers are encouraged to improve the claims situation and schedule three meetings a year to look at data and plan for how to move forward to keep overall claims at a reduced price, Trux said.
That allows for transparency in letting employers know what's going on.
"So one of the things we do is just lay it all out there, and this is what happened, this is the way it works," Truax said. "And then, we make changes going forward with everybody’s eyes open, and in our cells where the employers know each other, they’re working on different things to improve the overall situation that cell and their deal."
Truax founded an Oak Brook-based business in 2008 named Veritas Risk Services, LLC, WTTW reported.
The company served as a strategic risk consulting firm focused on assisting employers to take control of healthcare costs, benefits, retirement and business risk. After two years of hard work, Truax was able to begin the first captive insurance cell. “I started the first cell back of my agency, so that was back in January, 2010,“ he said.
Truax ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in Illinois as a Republican Party candidate in 2014 against Jim Oberweis.
Truax is also the founder of the political action committee The Foundation for the Restoration of America based on conservative principles. It participates "in political activities, advocates for policy changes and/or the election or defeat of candidates" with the goal of offering American their right to "live in true freedom under the founding principles."
Truax is married to his wife, Nicole, and has three sons. He previously served as Chairman of the Board for Almost Home Kids from April 2007 until April 2013 and Chairman of the Board for Caring Network from Jan. 2011 to May 2020, WTTW reported.