A health insurance broker for Michigan employers.
We are an independent firm of licensed insurance brokers based in Bloomfield Hills, serving employers across Metro Detroit and the entire state of Michigan. We shop your group health plan across the carriers, run your renewal, and handle the problems that come up the rest of the year. We work with businesses, not individual policies.
What you get from a health insurance broker.
A carrier can sell you its own plans. A broker works for you across all of them. Here is what that looks like in practice for a Michigan employer.
Shop the Market
We put your group out to the carriers that write business in your part of Michigan and lay the options side by side: premium, deductibles, networks and what your employees would pay. You see the trade-offs in one place instead of in a stack of carrier proposals. Our guide to Michigan health insurance carriers explains who writes what.
Run Your Renewal
Renewals are where most of the money is won or lost. We read the carrier’s increase, find out what is driving it, test it against the market and negotiate before you have to decide. You get a recommendation, not just a spreadsheet of quotes.
Keep You Compliant
Group health plans come with federal paperwork: ACA reporting, required employee notices, COBRA, and the plan documents ERISA expects you to have. We track the deadlines and tell you what applies to your group before it becomes a penalty. See our compliance support.
Handle the Problems
Most of the work happens between renewals: a denied claim, an employee missing from the eligibility file, a mid-year question about adding a spouse. You call us and we work it with the carrier, so your HR team is not left on hold.
What a Health Insurance Broker Does for a Small Business
If you run a small Michigan company, you can buy coverage yourself. Here is what a broker adds, what it costs you, and when it is worth it.
What Does a Broker Do for a Small Business?
We compare the small-group plans available to your employees, run the numbers on different employer contributions, handle enrollment and carrier paperwork, and manage your renewal each year. When something goes wrong with a claim or a billing error, we take the call so your team does not have to.
What Does It Cost to Use a Broker?
For most small-group medical plans, the carrier pays the broker’s commission out of the premium you already pay. Rates for the same plan are the same through a broker or direct. Ask any broker to put their compensation in writing, in dollars and not only as a percentage.
Is It Worth Using a Broker If I Only Have a Few Employees?
Usually yes, because small groups have the least time to manage benefits. A broker helps you choose a contribution level you can afford, keeps you compliant as you grow, and tells you early when a renewal is out of line with the market.
Can a Broker Help Me Switch Carriers?
Yes. Small-group carriers set rates without looking at your group’s claims, so switching is often simpler than owners expect. We check what changes for your employees, such as doctors, deductibles and drug lists, before you decide.
What Should I Ask Before Hiring One?
Ask how they are paid, who will service your account day to day, how they handle renewals, and which carriers they can actually place.
How Do I Know If My Renewal Is Fair?
Compare the increase to what the market is doing for groups like yours, not only to last year’s premium. We review your renewal, show you what changed and why, and price alternatives before the deadline so you are not choosing under pressure.
The right approach depends on your size.
A ten-person office and a four-hundred-person manufacturer are buying in different markets with different rules. We start by placing you in the right one.
Small Group
In Michigan, groups of up to 50 employees buy under ACA small-group rules: carriers set rates without looking at your group’s health or claims. The work is choosing the right plans and contribution strategy, and switching carriers is often simpler than owners expect.
Mid-Size Employers
Above 50 employees, your group’s own claims begin to influence your rates, and the ACA employer mandate applies at 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees. This is where level-funded plans, stop-loss and careful renewal negotiation start to pay off.
Larger Employers
Larger groups have the most options and the most at stake: self-funding, pharmacy contracts, captives and detailed claims analysis. We help you decide which structure fits and manage the vendors behind it.
Why Michigan employers work with CFH.
No Carrier Owns Us
We are independent, so our recommendation is not tied to one carrier’s plans. If the best answer is to stay where you are, we will say so.
A Team on Every Account
For proper coverage of an account we work in teams of five: an account executive, account manager, plan analyst, customer service and IT. You never depend on one person being in the office. How we staff your account.
Pay You Can See
Federal law requires brokers to disclose what they earn on your group health plan. We will put ours in writing before you decide anything. Read how benefits brokers are paid.
More Than Health Insurance
Dental, vision, life, disability and voluntary benefits sit alongside your medical plan, along with enrollment technology and access to CPAs and attorneys through the firm. See everything we do.
What employers ask a health insurance broker.
Does using a broker cost more?
Usually not in the premium. In the group market, carriers generally build broker compensation into their rates, so the price is typically the same whether you buy direct or through a broker. What changes is who works for you. Some larger and self-funded groups pay a fee instead, and either way we disclose what we earn in writing.
What is the difference between a broker and an agent?
A captive agent represents one carrier and sells its plans. An independent broker works with many carriers and represents the employer. In everyday use people often say “agent” for both, so ask directly which carriers they can quote.
Can we change brokers before our renewal?
Yes. A broker of record letter tells the carrier you have appointed a new broker. Your plan, coverage and ID cards do not change. The best time is two to three months before renewal, so the new broker can work the renewal from the start.
How small a business can you help?
Very small employers can buy group coverage in Michigan, and many of our clients are small offices and practices. A small group gets the same team and the same renewal work as a large one.
Do you work outside Metro Detroit?
Yes. Our office is in Bloomfield Hills, and we serve employers across the entire state of Michigan. Our licensing also follows clients with employees in other states, and we have offices in Colorado Springs and Houston.
What is the downside of using a broker?
The downside is incentive. A broker paid by commission can have a reason to favor one carrier, and some only show up at renewal. Ask any broker how they are paid, which carriers they quote, and who answers your employees’ questions between renewals. We explain our side in how benefits brokers are paid.
Are health insurance brokers trustworthy?
Michigan brokers have to be licensed, and you can check any license with the state’s Department of Insurance and Financial Services. A license is not a guarantee of service, so judge a broker on how openly they explain their pay, whether you get a named team, and what they do between renewals. Start with our five questions to ask any broker.
What do you need to get started?
For a quick review: your renewal letter, current plan summary, contribution split by tier and enrolled counts by tier. If your group has 50 or more employees, we will ask for two more items. We will tell you whether your renewal looks competitive at no cost.
General information, not legal advice. Your plan documents and counsel govern your specific situation.
Michigan Employers We Serve by Region
Find your region to see the cities we serve there and the questions employers in each area ask us most: Detroit Metro · Southeast Michigan · Greater Lansing · West Michigan · East Central Michigan · East Michigan and the Thumb · Southwest Michigan · Northwest Michigan · Northeast Michigan · Upper Peninsula. Or browse every Michigan city we serve.
Send us your renewal.
We’ll tell you whether it looks competitive, where we see opportunity, and the five questions we’d put to your carrier. No cost, and no obligation to move anything.
The renewal letter
Your current plan summary
Contribution split by tier
Enrolled counts by tier
Four documents — two more if your group is 50 or more. Nothing else; every extra one is a reason to postpone.
An independent employee benefits consulting firm. We look at the entire benefits program — cost, plan performance, risk and administration.
Switch to CFH. Unhappy with your broker? Your employees won’t notice. You will. →