In 2016, Symetra Life Insurance Company is celebrating its 40th anniversary as a medical stop-loss provider. A stop-loss pioneer and industry leader, Symetra has built one of the largest medical stop-loss operations in the country.

To help mark the historical milestone, Symetra created a dedicated anniversary website — 40 Years of Stop Loss — which includes a timeline of key events in the employer-sponsored health care industry, educational tools and resources for benefit brokers and employers, and a section inviting self-funding industry participants to share their stories. In late spring, the company will expand its digital Benefits administrative platform, GroupOnline (GO), to include stop-loss services in addition to existing group life and disability capabilities. The new enhancement will improve the ease of doing business with Symetra for benefits brokers, third party administrators and employers via a secure online experience.

“At Symetra, we are very proud of our legacy of doing business with integrity and transparency. We entered the medical stop-loss market in 1976 in response to ERISA, which allowed groups to self-fund their medical plans for the first time. Our product was designed as a creative, cost-effective solution that provided financial peace of mind for these new, self-funded groups,” said Michael Fry, executive vice president of Symetra’s Benefits Division. “Forty years later — with a demonstrated service, underwriting and claims management expertise — we remain committed to helping employers meet the challenges of a complex and evolving health care environment.”

Medical stop-loss insurance protects companies that self-fund their health insurance plans against large or catastrophic claims. Employers with stop-loss insurance are reimbursed for individual employees’ medical costs above a certain pre-determined dollar amount. Stop-loss insurance also protects against unexpectedly large amounts of total medical claims. Symetra also offers group life and disability, absence management, critical illness and accident insurance as well as supplemental medical and gap insurance that can be paired with administration for self-funded minimum essential coverage (MEC) plans.

About Symetra

Symetra Life Insurance Company is a subsidiary of Symetra Financial Corporation (NYSE: SYA), a diversified financial services company based in Bellevue, Wash. In business since 1957, Symetra provides employee benefits, annuities and life insurance through a national network of benefit consultants, financial institutions, and independent agents and advisors. For more information, visit www.symetra.com.