We hear it every day - agents are struggling to find individual major medical plans that meet the needs of their small-business clients. Some of the more recent developments in the individual market, designed to keep premiums down, end up making plans less desirable. Deductibles are growing, networks are shrinking, and more prescription drugs are being moved to non-formulary – meaning they aren’t covered under the plan – and yet, premiums continue to rise. Some health care providers are even deciding to stop accepting plans purchased through the Marketplace. How do you fix falling individual medical sales? Go self-funded.

The group fully insured market has some of the same problems. The Affordable Care Act’s community rating provision creates a market where healthier groups often pay higher premiums to offset the costs of less-healthy groups, creating higher premiums for many employers. All this combined can make selling very frustrating.

But, there’s good news - AHCP has a solution. AHCP gives you access to a self-funded program for your small-business clients. Employers looking for affordable health coverage solutions for their employees may be able to save on health care costs by setting up a self-funded group health plan.

In many states, employers can establish self-funded plans with as few as two eligible employees (including the business owner). By self-funding, a small-business employer is not subject to the all of the ACA’s mandated Essential Health Benefits or community rating rules. Instead, the plan is underwritten and priced based on the expected claims for that group. This can help business owners keep their monthly health care costs under control and cap their maximum exposure for the year with stop-loss insurance.

If you’ve concentrated your efforts on individual major medical coverage, or if you’re already selling group insurance and are looking for a more affordable option for your clients, we’d love to show you our self-funded options. We can help you grow your business while earning competitive commissions by adding more small-business clients to your book of business. With our National General Benefits Solution’s Self-funded Program and agent support, all you need to do is generate interest with your client and provide us with a list of employees and their DOBs. We’ll take it from there.

To learn more, click here or contact AHCP Agent Services today at 877-228-8773.


The Self-Funded Program provides tools for small-business employers to establish a self-funded health benefit plan for their employees. The benefit plan is established by the employer and is not an insurance product. Stop-loss insurance for the National General Benefits Solutions Self-Funded Program is underwritten and issued by National Health Insurance Company, Integon National Insurance Company, and Integon Indemnity Corporation.