Small Business Coop Makes Insurance Accessible
Published Mar 18, 2008
For the small businesses of the Texas Midwest, the search for affordable health insurance has come to fruition.
In October 2007, the Texas Midwest Community Network (TMCN) announced the formation of the Texas Midwest Chamber Cooperative to provide group insurance rates for the region’s smallest employers.
“We had feedback from some of our smaller chamber members saying that they wished they had something they could offer their businesses,” says TMCN Executive Director Nicki Harle, who also administers the cooperative.
When the Texas Legislature legalized small-business health group cooperatives, TMCN saw the opportunity it had been waiting for. The network partnered with Hendrick Health System, an owner of FirstCare Health Plans, to craft an insurance product to be sold by independent insurance agents.
“Hendrick Health System has been a development partner since TMCN was founded in 1994, so it was a natural fit to go through them,” Harle says.
In keeping with the program’s mission, the insurance plan was designed with input from area businesses.
“We interviewed business owners around the region and ran some test benefit packages by them to see if it would be adequate. We asked what it would take to have health insurance for their employees,” Harle says.
Only members of TMCN-affiliated chambers of commerce can purchase the policy, but free quotes are available to all businesses in the co-op’s coverage area.
The entire program is truly revolutionary. In more than a year of research, Harle found no other regional organizations like the Texas Midwest Chamber Cooperative.
But, she says, trailblazing is all in a day’s work for TMCN.
“We’re trying to be creative in our region to benefit business, and we will work harder than other areas to make this a better place to do business. This program is just one little example.”
Story by Kathryn Royster
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