CORE INSURANCE
Keystone Agency Partners | July 27, 2022
Keystone Agency Partners (KAP), a rapidly growing insurance brokerage platform, today announced it was named to Business Insurance’s ranking of the world’s Top 100 Insurance Brokers of U.S. Business for 2022. Reporting 233 percent year-over-year growth in 2021, KAP is among only a few brokers reporting triple-digit growth, earning a ranking of 56th in KAP’s first year of eligibility for the Top 100 list.
KAP also earned the distinction of being the top first-time participant in this year’s list. The ranking highlights independent insurance agency demand for the company’s differentiated value proposition. Through a partnership with KAP, agency owners can retain ownership in their agency, take ownership in a portion of KAP, maintain their local brand, and gain the strategic direction, capital investment, operational support and collaborative resources of KAP.
“We are proud to be included in Business Insurance’s list of the world’s premier insurance brokers,” said Jeff Turner, Chief Executive Officer of KAP.
“We are proud to be included in Business Insurance’s list of the world’s premier insurance brokers,” said Jeff Turner, Chief Executive Officer of KAP. “Our first full year of operation reflects the interest in our differentiated model and our leadership’s ability to drive exponential growth with our Platform Partners. KAP’s aligned incentives and Connected Autonomy operating model, have attracted agency owners from some of the highest performing agencies in the country and we’re thrilled to bring such a compelling offering to the market.”
In the first half of 2022, KAP added five platform partner agencies – growing its footprint in key geographic states of Florida, Michigan, Missouri, and New Jersey. This geographic expansion allows for future tuck-in opportunity to be realized through additional geographic depth and diversity of line of business coverage. The company plans to drive accelerated growth by leveraging the power of the collective platform, realizing operational efficiencies and delivering even greater value for partner agency clients and employees.
About Keystone Agency Partners
Keystone Agency Partners (KAP) is a rapidly growing insurance brokerage platform that acquires and partners with independent insurance agencies throughout the United States. KAP provides best-in-class services and capital investment that unlocks potential and delivers outsized and profitable growth within its platform agencies. KAP was founded in 2020 in partnership with Keystone Insurers Group, Inc. and affiliates of Bain Capital, LP. For more information, please visit: www.keystoneagencypartners.com.
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HEALTH INSURANCE
Alegeus, HealthSherpa | July 19, 2022
Alegeus, the market leader in healthcare payment solutions, and HealthSherpa, the leading enrollment platform for individual ACA health coverage, have outpaced the industry in individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements (ICHRA) since announcing an integration partnership in the summer of 2020. With updates to their partnership in 2022, both companies are poised to increase their ICHRA enrollments even faster. HealthSherpa, which has seen more than 10X growth in ICHRA pipeline, has enrolled more than three million individuals on its platform in just the last year.
ICHRAs, which were launched at the start of 2020, allow employers to reimburse employees for individual coverage insurance premiums in place of offering them a traditional group-sponsored health plan. ICHRAs can also be used by employees to pay for out-of-pocket healthcare expenses. Organizations administering consumer-directed health benefit programs can set up an ICHRA with Alegeus, and then HealthSherpa helps ICHRA-eligible employees search for and enroll in the best on-exchange and off-exchange individual health plans. This integration bolsters the health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) experience from Alegeus and gives third-party administrators (TPAs) and health plans a strategy for increasing employer and employee participation in health benefit accounts.
“We’re excited about the growing demand our partners have seen for ICHRA since announcing our integration partnership with HealthSherpa,” said Mark Waterstraat, chief customer officer, Alegeus. “Our joint solution is helping employers to deliver quality and cost-effective benefits quickly and efficiently to their employees. While ICHRAs can offer these through employer-defined contribution and better-fit individual coverage plans, they are still new and require a considerable amount of education and awareness. Through this partnership, our efforts are resonating, as evidenced by growing market demand.”
“ICHRAs are a great option for a large and growing number of employers and their employees, and we’ve seen many of our client organizations begin reaping their benefits,” said Ross Honig, president, OCA. “Working with Alegeus and HealthSherpa has allowed OCA to market our ICHRA solution as a “one-stop” product that is seamless and easy to use for brokers, employers, and their employees.”
“Millions of consumers have enrolled in health insurance through HealthSherpa and experienced the increasing appeal of individual coverage. With our new off-exchange options, employers and brokers alike have more options for employees looking to make the transition away from group-sponsored health insurance,” said George Kalogeropolous, CEO, HealthSherpa.
“Millions of consumers have enrolled in health insurance through HealthSherpa and experienced the increasing appeal of individual coverage. With our new off-exchange options, employers and brokers alike have more options for employees looking to make the transition away from group-sponsored health insurance,” said George Kalogeropolous, CEO, HealthSherpa. “ICHRA is changing the dynamic of the relationship between employers and employees on the critical question of health insurance, and we’re thrilled to partner with Alegeus to help employers understand the benefits and communicate them with their employees.”
Alegeus and HealthSherpa recently presented a webinar, “The (Present and) Future of ICHRAs,” showcasing how to simplify the administration of ICHRA benefits and make it easier for consumers to find the care and coverage that meets their needs. To learn more about ICHRAs and view the webinar presentation, please click here or visit https://www.alegeus.com/webinars/.
About HealthSherpa
HealthSherpa builds technology that increases access to health care. We provide end-to-end solutions for consumers, insurance carriers, and agents, delivering a superior ACA marketplace experience to fulfill our mission of connecting people to health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. The HealthSherpa Marketplace, our flagship health insurance enrollment platform, services more than 45,000 agents, 38 carriers, and 9 million consumers.
About Alegeus
With more than 25 years of growth and innovation, Alegeus is the market leader in SaaS-based benefit funding and payment solutions. Our highly flexible, white-label platform powers account-based benefit programs such as HSAs, FSAs, HRAs, COBRA, wellness incentives, lifestyle benefits and beyond. We deliver exceptional user experiences and differentiated capabilities that help our partners strengthen their product offerings, operate more efficiently, and unlock their full growth potential. Our partnerships with the industry’s leading health plans, third-party administrators, financial services and benefit solution providers give Alegeus unparalleled reach in the market, with access to more than 100 million commercially insured Americans. And our unique partnership model empowers our clients to achieve outsized results – growing their programs at a rate that is 3-4X the market, and with the highest NPS scores in the industry. We never compete with our clients in the market – we win when they win. Alegeus is headquartered in Waltham, Mass., with operations centers in Orlando and Bangalore, and a large remote workforce.
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AUTOMOBILE INSURANCE
Lemonade, Metromile | August 01, 2022
Lemonade (NYSE: LMND), the insurance company powered by AI and social impact, today announced the closing of the acquisition of car insurance provider Metromile. Metromile shareholders received 7.3 million LMND shares, while Lemonade received a business with over $155m in cash, over $110m in premiums, an insurance entity licensed in 49 states, and a team unsurpassed in harnessing precision data for auto insurance.
“We launched Lemonade Car a few months ago, and believe it’s the most delightful product on the market. We also believe auto insurance is challenging for newcomers and disadvantaged by a lack of data which is why we bought Metromile,” said Shai Wininger, Lemonade co-CEO and cofounder.
“We launched Lemonade Car a few months ago, and believe it’s the most delightful product on the market. We also believe auto insurance is challenging for newcomers and disadvantaged by a lack of data which is why we bought Metromile,” said Shai Wininger, Lemonade co-CEO and cofounder. “For ten years, Metromile’s intricate sensors monitored billions of miles of driving, while their AI cross-referenced this data with hundreds of thousands of claims, to accurately score each tap of the brake and turn of the wheel. We believe that adding these models into the Lemonade Car platform will make the most delightful car insurance also the most competitive, precise, and fair. That’s why we’re so excited to welcome Metromile into the Lemonade family.”
Most Metromile employees will transition to roles at Lemonade, and Metromile CEO, Dan Preston, has assumed the role of Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives.
“It’s hard to imagine a better home for Metromile than Lemonade. While Metromile was at the forefront of using big data and AI in car insurance, Lemonade forged a parallel path for several complementary lines of insurance. That makes for a powerful combination,” said Dan Preston, SVP Strategic Initiatives, Lemonade. “The upshot is that Metromile’s mission to connect the world to personalized insurance receives a big boost today. While the Metromile brand will sunset over time, its promise to consumers will be realized bigger, better, and sooner now that we’ve joined forces.”
The Metromile app and brand will continue in-market until all customers can be seamlessly transitioned to the Lemonade app and brand. Metromile common stock will cease trading on NASDAQ today.
About Lemonade
Lemonade offers renters, homeowners, car, pet, and life insurance. Powered by artificial intelligence and social impact, Lemonade’s full stack insurance carriers in the US and the EU replace brokers and bureaucracy with bots and machine learning, aiming for zero paperwork and instant everything. A Certified B-Corp, Lemonade gives unused premiums to nonprofits selected by its community, during its annual Giveback. Lemonade is currently available in the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, and France, and continues to expand globally.
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