For most small and mid-size businesses, healthcare is the benefit that costs the most, delivers the least, and gets worse every year. Bag Carriers helps employers — in any industry — build a smarter healthcare strategy around Direct Primary Care, custom coverage, and a trusted insurance partner. Better benefits. Lower cost. Frank stays as your advocate throughout.
The Problem
The average employer healthcare cost has risen over 50% in the past decade — with 10%+ annual renewals becoming the norm. Most small and mid-size businesses have no leverage, no transparency, and no real alternative. They absorb the increase, shift more cost onto employees, or drop coverage entirely.
To afford premiums, most employers have moved to high-deductible health plans. The result: employees delay or avoid care because a doctor visit costs hundreds of dollars before the deductible is met. Small problems become expensive problems. Preventable claims become catastrophic ones.
Traditional insurance puts a carrier between your employees and their care. You have no visibility into where costs are coming from, no ability to design a plan that fits your workforce, and no advocate ensuring your employees actually get the care they need when they need it.
Commercial group plans are designed for average risk pools, not your specific team, industry, or geography. You're paying for coverage your employees rarely use and missing coverage they desperately need. And every year the plan gets worse as the insurer adjusts for their own profit margin.
The Bag Carriers Solution
No single product fixes healthcare. Frank connects you with a complete solution — DPC he sets up directly, wraparound insurance through a trusted licensed partner he's worked with on dozens of groups, and a self-insured framework for qualifying employers. Three pillars, one point of contact, and Frank as your advocate throughout.
Unlimited Access • No Copays • Flat Monthly Membership
Direct Primary Care replaces the traditional fee-for-service model with a simple flat monthly membership. Your employees get unlimited access to a local primary care practice — same-day appointments, direct provider communication, and comprehensive preventive care — for one predictable monthly fee with no copays or deductibles for covered services.
Bag Carriers has partnered with a leading local DPC provider serving Central PA with locations in Altoona, Tyrone, and Berwick. Their physicians carry a patient panel of around 600 — compared to the industry standard of 2,500+ — which means more time with your employees and better outcomes over time.
Hospitalization • Surgery • Catastrophic Events
DPC covers the vast majority of healthcare needs — but not all of them. Hospitalization, surgery, specialist care, and major medical events require separate coverage. Frank is not an insurance broker — but he has a trusted licensed brokerage partner he has worked alongside on dozens of employer groups. Frank makes the introduction, advocates for your interests throughout, and stays involved to make sure the plan continues working for you year over year.
Because your DPC membership dramatically reduces the frequency and severity of claims — fewer ER visits, fewer inpatient admissions, fewer specialist referrals — your wraparound coverage costs significantly less than traditional group insurance. Frank bridges the two: he sets up your DPC, introduces you to the right insurance partner, and remains your advocate across both throughout the relationship.
Maximum Control • Maximum Savings • DPC-Powered
For qualifying employers, a self-insured health plan powered by DPC is the most powerful model available. Instead of paying fixed premiums to a carrier, you pay actual claims — with stop-loss insurance to cap catastrophic exposure — and keep what you don't spend. Frank introduces you to the licensed partners who build and manage this structure, and stays involved as your advocate so you're never navigating it alone.
This model is being adopted by forward-thinking employers across the country — and is being refined and delivered by a growing network of innovative partners. Employers who've made this shift have targeted savings of 10%+ versus fully-insured plans while delivering richer benefits to their workforce. Bag Carriers matches you with the right partner for your size, location, and situation.
Three Ways to Fight Back
These are three distinct offerings — not a bundled package. Each one on its own is a meaningful improvement over the status quo. Bag Carriers helps you identify which one, or which combination, is right for your business right now.
Traditional primary care charges per appointment, incentivizing volume over outcomes. DPC replaces that with a flat membership — unlimited access, no copays, and a physician who actually has time for your employees. It attacks the root cause of why people delay care until it's expensive.
Commercial group insurance forces every employer into the same risk pool, the same plan design, and the same annual renewal cycle. A custom wraparound plan — built around your team, your industry, and your actual exposure — challenges that with coverage that fits what you actually need.
In a traditional fully-insured plan, every unused premium dollar stays with the carrier. Self-insurance changes that equation entirely — you pay actual claims, and you keep what you don't spend. It challenges the fundamental assumption that the insurer should profit from your healthy workforce.
* Source: 2020 Milliman Study for Society of Actuaries, "Direct Primary Care: Evaluating a New Model of Delivery and Financing."
The Self-Insured Model in Action
A growing number of employers have discovered that the traditional fully-insured group plan isn't the only option — and for many businesses, it's no longer the best one. The self-insured model flips the equation: instead of paying fixed premiums to a carrier regardless of what you spend, you pay actual claims — and keep what you don't.
When DPC is built into the foundation of a self-insured plan, the results compound. Employees access primary care freely, which means fewer expensive claims downstream. ER visits decline. Inpatient admissions fall. The claims pool gets smaller and less volatile — and the employer benefits directly.
Bag Carriers works with a network of innovative self-insured plan partners across the country. Depending on your location, size, industry, and workforce, Frank identifies the right structure and the right partner — not a one-size-fits-all product, but a solution genuinely matched to your circumstances.
Employer moves to self-insurance
Instead of paying fixed premiums to a commercial carrier, the employer funds a claims pool — with stop-loss insurance in place to cap exposure on catastrophic events.
DPC membership is built into the plan
Every employee is enrolled in a local DPC practice. Routine care, prevention, and chronic condition management happen there — with no claims filed against the self-insured pool.
Claims volume drops — meaningfully
With primary care handled outside the claims system, the events that do hit the pool are fewer and less severe. ER use, specialist referrals, and inpatient admissions all decline.
The employer keeps the difference
In a traditional plan, unused premiums stay with the carrier. In a self-insured model, what you don't spend stays with you — redirected to the business, the team, or plan improvements.
What DPC-Powered Self-Insurance Delivers
* Source: 2020 Milliman Study for Society of Actuaries. Results vary by employer size, industry, and workforce health profile. Bag Carriers matches employers with the right partner for their specific situation.
Who This Is For
The employers most burdened by traditional insurance and least equipped to negotiate with carriers. DPC-based models were built for this size — transparent, flexible, and far more cost-effective than commercial group plans.
Contractors, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and other trade businesses where employees do physical work and healthcare access matters. DPC ensures small issues get addressed before they become lost time and expensive claims.
A DPC membership for each employee is a meaningful, affordable benefit that can be offered without the full cost of traditional group health insurance — giving smaller employers a way to compete for talent they couldn't attract before.
The time to build the right healthcare strategy is before your headcount grows and your current plan becomes untenable. Employers who establish a DPC-anchored model early scale healthcare benefits at a fraction of traditional costs.
Diabetes, hypertension, respiratory conditions — chronic conditions drive the majority of healthcare costs. DPC physicians manage these proactively, dramatically reducing the downstream claims that result from poorly managed chronic disease.
Unlimited primary care, mental health counseling, same-day appointments, and direct physician access is a benefits package that stands out. In competitive hiring markets, that differentiation is worth real money in reduced turnover.
The Bag Carriers Role
Free consultation — understand your current situation
Frank reviews your current healthcare costs, plan structure, employee count, and industry. We identify where you're overpaying and what a restructured approach would look like — with complete transparency about what Frank handles directly vs. what goes to a licensed partner.
Custom solution designed for you
Frank sets up your DPC membership directly and introduces you to a trusted licensed brokerage partner for the insurance side — someone he has worked with successfully on dozens of employer groups. You get a cohesive solution, not two disconnected products.
Partner introductions and enrollment
Frank handles the DPC enrollment directly. For the insurance component, he personally introduces you to his brokerage partner, briefs them on your situation, and is present throughout to make sure the solution stays aligned with what you actually need.
Ongoing advocacy — for you and your team
Frank is your point of contact — not a broker who disappears after the sale. When renewals come up, when employees have questions, when something isn't working — you call Frank. He coordinates between the DPC side and the insurance side so you never manage two separate relationships alone.
Most employers renew their health plan every year without ever questioning whether there's a better way. Their broker presents two options, both expensive, and they pick the less bad one. Costs go up. They shift more to employees. The cycle repeats.
Frank connects the pieces and advocates for you throughout. He's not the broker. He's the person making sure the broker delivers.
Frank handles DPC directly. For insurance, he introduces you to a partner he trusts — one he's worked alongside on dozens of groups. And he stays in the relationship as your advocate so the whole system works together, not just on day one.
That's the conversation Bag Carriers is here to have. It starts with a free 30-minute call where we look at your current situation and tell you honestly what we think the right path is.
Book a Free ConsultationWhat Employers Are Saying
We were renewing at double-digit increases every year and just accepting it. Bag Carriers showed us a DPC-anchored model that cost less and gave our employees better access to care. We wish we'd done it three years earlier.
Owner — Construction Company, 18 Employees
The DPC membership changed how my team thinks about going to the doctor. They actually go now. Same-day appointments, no copay, a doctor who answers their texts. Healthcare became a benefit they talk about instead of complain about.
Owner — HVAC Service Company, 11 Employees
I didn't know a self-insured model was even possible for a company our size. Frank walked us through the whole structure, introduced us to the right partners, and handled the implementation. We saved meaningful money in year one.
Owner — Regional Retailer, 34 Employees
Book Your Consultation
Fill out the form below and Frank will personally reach out to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. We'll review your current healthcare costs, explain the options, and give you an honest picture of what's possible for your business.
Request a Free Healthcare Consultation
What to Expect
Frank reviews your submission
We look at your employee count, current situation, and industry before the call so we come prepared with relevant options — not a generic pitch.
Free 30-minute consultation call
Frank reviews your current costs, explains the DPC model he sets up directly, and walks you through what a custom wraparound or self-insured plan from his trusted insurance partner would look like.
Custom solution designed for you
Frank sets up DPC directly and introduces you to his licensed brokerage partner for the insurance side. You get both in one relationship, with Frank as the through-line.
Implementation and ongoing support
Frank manages partner introductions, enrollment, and employee communication — and stays involved as your healthcare advocate going forward.
⚠️ Frank Lechner and Bag Carriers are not licensed insurance brokers or healthcare providers. Frank connects employers with a trusted, licensed Direct Primary Care provider and introduces qualifying employers to a licensed insurance brokerage partner. All insurance products are designed, sold, and managed by that licensed brokerage. Frank's role is as a connector and ongoing employer advocate.