Peace of mind for every stage of life.

A 15–25% renewal jump is the moment most employers start shopping. Before you accept it, there are usually three levers worth pulling: market the same plan to other carriers to see who's hungry for the business, restructure plan design (deductible, copays, network tier) to bring the rate back down, or consider a different funding model entirely — level-funded for healthier groups, or ICHRA if you want predictable monthly costs that don't renew. We pull renewal numbers from every major South Carolina carrier in parallel so you can see the real spread, not just one alternative. The right answer depends on your group's claims history, demographics, and how much administrative complexity you're willing to absorb.

ICHRA works well for a specific kind of employer: one who wants a predictable monthly budget, has employees spread across age bands or geographic markets, and doesn't want to manage participation rates or annual renewals. Instead of buying one group plan, you set a tax-free monthly reimbursement and each employee shops for their own individual plan. There are no minimum participation requirements, no employee count thresholds, and you can offer different reimbursement amounts to different employee classes. The trade-off: employees handle their own plan shopping (we coach them through it), and the math doesn't always beat a traditional group plan for younger, healthier teams. We model both side by side before you commit.

Fully insured plans are what most people picture: you pay a fixed monthly premium to a carrier, and the carrier owns all the claims risk. Predictable, simple, and the default for most small groups. Level-funded plans look fixed on the outside — you pay a steady monthly amount — but underneath, the carrier is tracking your group's actual claims. If your group runs healthier than projected, you get money back at the end of the year. If claims spike, built-in stop-loss caps your downside. Level-funded usually makes sense for groups of roughly 10 or more with younger, healthier demographics. We run both quotes through the same carrier set so the comparison is apples to apples.

The reason carrier shopping eats so much time is that every carrier wants the census in a slightly different format, replies on their own timeline, and quotes in layouts that don't line up. As an independent broker, we submit your group to every major South Carolina carrier — BlueCross BlueShield, BlueChoice, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Ambetter, and others — in one round, then put the quotes in a single side-by-side comparison. You see real rates, real network coverage, and real plan design differences in one view. Most groups get their full quote package back within a week. You stay in your day job; we handle the carrier herding.

You can switch brokers any time — you don't have to wait until renewal. Once you sign a broker of record letter naming us as the agent on your existing policy, your current carrier transfers servicing without disrupting coverage. Premiums don't change, your employees keep their cards, and there's no enrollment event. We then take over claims help, compliance questions, open enrollment, and renewal shopping going forward. Most employers switch because they stopped hearing from their current broker after the policy was placed. If that's the situation, the move takes about twenty minutes of paperwork and zero disruption to your team.

Losing employer coverage triggers a 60-day Special Enrollment Period on the ACA marketplace, so you don't have to wait for open enrollment to get covered. You generally have three paths: enroll in marketplace coverage (often with a premium subsidy based on your new household income), elect COBRA from your former employer (same plan, no subsidy, you pay the full premium), or get added to a spouse's plan if eligible. Most people in this situation are surprised by how much the marketplace subsidy can offset the cost, especially in the months between jobs. We can run COBRA and marketplace numbers against your specific situation so you're not guessing.

The honest answer is it depends on how you want the financial risk to land. Medicare Advantage plans usually have low or zero monthly premiums and bundle in extras like dental, vision, and prescription coverage, but you pay copays as you use care and stay inside the plan's network. Medicare Supplement (Medigap) plans cost more each month but cover most of the gaps Original Medicare leaves behind, so out-of-pocket costs at the point of care are minimal and you can see any doctor that accepts Medicare. We walk through your prescription list, your doctors, and how often you actually use care, then compare specific plan options in your South Carolina ZIP code.