Adopting a partially self-insured group health plan does not create more work for HR and benefit managers in comparison to a plan that is fully-insured. Changing carriers and benefit plan designs creates more work, but the funding arrangement does not.  Setting up a self-funded plan does involve creating a new account or using an existing bank account allowing the insurance carrier or third party administrator to withdraw funds via ACH to pay adjudicated claims.  The first big noticeable difference after implementing a self-funded plan is transparency and full disclosure in reporting of all fixed and variable cost components, removing the shroud of secrecy that often comes with a fully-insured plan – not knowing where the premium is actually going.