The brokerage we wish existed when we started — written down.
Long-form, citation-friendly explainers on private off-exchange plans, ICHRA, the marketplace commission gap, and benefit-program economics. Built for brokers, operators, and the self-employed. Posted weekly. Syndicated to LinkedIn, X, and email.
Recent articles.
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Why your prescription costs what it costs
Same pill, wildly different price. It comes down to one document nobody reads: the formulary. Drug tiers, prior auth, step therapy, and the levers that can lower cost.
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The deadlines that lock you out: open vs special enrollment
Two windows decide when you can buy coverage — and a 60-day clock decides whether you're locked out. Open enrollment, Special Enrollment Periods, and what to do if you missed your window.
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PPO vs HMO vs EPO: which doctors can you actually see?
Every network acronym answers one question — what happens when you step outside the list. HMO, PPO, EPO and POS in plain English, and why "PPO" isn't better, just more flexible.
Read →How to actually read a health plan
Deductible, copay, coinsurance, out-of-pocket max — the five words that decide what you actually pay, translated into plain English with a worked example.
Read →Your coverage Independence Day
A Fourth-of-July guide to health-insurance independence: the three freedoms most people never claim, and a 20-minute checklist to see if your plan still fits.
Read →Why top agents are leaving the marketplace
Healthcare.gov keeps agents on a treadmill — thin pay, churn, back to zero every January. The honest case for the independent off-exchange model, and the trade-offs.
Read →Small business employee benefits: what to offer & what it costs
What you're required to offer, what group health costs per employee, and how to build a package that competes without overpaying.
Read →The marketplace commission gap (and what to do about it)
Healthcare.gov pays brokers nothing. Here's the math, and how off-exchange placements close the loop.
Read →ICHRA, explained without the acronym soup
Individual Coverage HRAs let employers reimburse employees for individual plans tax-free. When it's a fit, when it isn't.
Read →Self-employed in 2026: your three real health insurance options
ACA marketplace, private off-exchange, or a health-sharing ministry. Apples-to-apples on cost, network, and tradeoffs.
Read →Level-funded vs fully-insured: how to actually choose
A 35-person company isn't a 350-person company. The funding-model question, in plain English.
Read →One essay a week. Tuesdays at 7am ET.
No filler. No "5 things you didn't know about insurance." Just the actual mechanics of how plans, commissions, and funding models work — written for adults.