Core Insurance, Insurance Technology
PR Newswire | August 21, 2023
The team from Houston's Iscential, a premier independent insurance agency, risk management and financial services firm, has joined forces with Fort Worth's Higginbotham, the largest independent insurance, financial and HR services firm headquartered in Texas and one of the top firms in the country. This strategic move allows access to enhanced services for Iscential clients and adds a second Houston team to the Higginbotham roster.
As Higginbotham celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, Chairman and CEO Rusty Reid continues looking toward the next milestone. Reid champions strategic growth for the company by bringing aboard agencies and teams that enjoy strong reputations in their local markets and share the same energy, culture, values, and commitment to service as Higginbotham.
"Iscential fits perfectly into our national network of firms," Reid declared. "I could not be more pleased to bring them into the fold. They are a firm with impressive growth and an incredible reputation for client service. Our partnership with Iscential will allow both of us to better provide enhanced services to our clients for years to come."
Warren Barhorst, CEO of Iscential, also looked to the future as he searched for a company that could bring long-term organizational continuity to the business he founded 30 years ago. But his search was complicated by what he found in the marketplace.
"There were a lot of agencies to choose from," said Barhorst. "But when we started taking a closer look, we realized that so many companies are driven by stock price rather than customer and employee care, and they're not run by insurance people.
"Then we looked at Higginbotham," Barhorst continued. "Not only do they have the long-term, proven performance we needed, but they also have the right culture. They're employee-owned. They're sales-driven and customer-focused. And best of all — they're run by insurance people. With Higginbotham, we found a partner that values what we've built, values our culture and associates, and wants more than a financial transaction."
Barhorst noted that he was particularly excited to now be able to offer Higginbotham's wide array of services to Iscential clients: "When we looked at the Higginbotham services, there was no question — they've done what we were trying to do on a smaller scale, and they've done it right."
Reid elaborated, "At Higginbotham, we've strategically and diligently built the in-house services for risk management, benefit plan administration, HR services, and more, and we're looking forward to offering these solutions to Iscential clients."
"Despite the obvious benefits, the decision to team up with Higginbotham was surprisingly emotional," Barhorst concluded. "Higginbotham kept telling us it'll be business as usual, and they were right. Except they're enabling me to refocus on the parts of the business I love most. If you're a baker and you like to bake, you want to make cookies. You don't want to sit at your desk alone doing paperwork. Today, I got to make the insurance version of cookies: I got to be back with clients all day long."
Dowling Hales acted as exclusive financial advisor to the sellers in this transaction.
About Iscential
Iscential is an independent insurance agency, risk management and financial services firm dedicated to helping individuals, families and businesses protect their most valuable assets. One of the largest writers of Nationwide property and casualty insurance in the country, Iscential was founded in 1993 by current CEO Warren Barhorst and his wife. With roots planted in Houston, Iscential has grown to encompass over 140 associates and is licensed in over 38 states. Visit iscential.com for more information.
About Higginbotham
Employee owned and customer inspired, Higginbotham is a single source solution for insurance, financial and HR services. The firm was established in 1948 and ranks by revenue as the nation's 21st largest independent insurance firm. Serving thousands of businesses and individuals through locations coast-to-coast, Higginbotham's approach to finding insurance, employee benefit and risk management solutions is more individual and less institutional. By understanding customer priorities, eliminating inefficiencies and committing to transparency, Higginbotham is a place that leads with values so value leads. Visit higginbotham.com for more information.
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Health Insurance, Insurance Technology
PRnewswire | July 26, 2023
Enhance Health, a digital health insurance brokerage and care navigation platform, is excited to announce the acquisition of JET Health Solutions, a premier Enhanced Direct Enrollment (EDE) platform. The acquisition reinforces Enhance Health's commitment to serving its members and scaling its operations effectively through technology.
"We are thrilled to announce the acquisition of JET Health Solutions," said Matthew Herman, CEO and President of Enhance Health. "Since Enhance's founding, we've been committed to leveraging technology in new ways to simplify the enrollment process. JET's advanced EDE platform improves our already best-in-class member and agent experience."
With hundreds of thousands of members enrolled in Affordable Care Act (ACA) plans as well as Medicare Advantage plans, Enhance Health has established itself as a trusted partner in the healthcare industry. The acquisition of JET empowers Enhance Health to fully own the enrollment process, enhancing its capabilities and expanding its services with one of the few CMS-certified Phase 3 EDEs available in the market.
"Joining forces with Enhance Health is an exciting opportunity to drive meaningful change in the healthcare industry," said Asad Shamim, Founder and Managing Partner of JET Health Solutions. "Together, we are well-positioned to revolutionize the enrollment process and improve healthcare access for individuals and families across the nation."
Since its establishment in 2008, JET Health has equipped healthcare payers and providers with cutting-edge tools to excel in the ever-evolving healthcare marketplace.
"Integrating an EDE into our technology stack solidifies Enhance as the leader in the digital health insurance space," said Jeff Tang, CIO of Enhance Health. "Fully integrated with our CRM and other agent systems, this platform will fundamentally change the way we interact with our members through streamlined agent workflows, actionable data, and enhanced data security."
About Enhance Health
Founded in 2021 by industry veteran Matt Herman and backed by Bain Capital Insurance, Enhance Health has experienced rapid growth due to the record number of Americans enrolling in ACA health plans in 2022. Enhance Health has grown its membership base to hundreds of thousands, and is rapidly expanding into other insurance business lines.
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Risk Management, Insurance Technology
PRnewswire | July 17, 2023
Today, HawkSoft welcomes Canopy Connect into its Solution Partner program. HawkSoft has worked with Canopy Connect in an informal capacity for several years, including a joint project involving API connectivity platform, InsuranceGIG that enabled automation between HawkSoft's agency management system and Canopy Connect's insurance verification system. This announcement celebrates the formal recognition of Canopy Connect as a key player in solving pain points for independent insurance agents including an ever-increasing portion of HawkSoft's customer base.
More than eight thousand insurance agents use Canopy Connect to easily collect verified insurance information from their prospects. Agents can send custom links that allow prospects to sign into an insurance carrier and securely share their policy details with the agency. All policy information, drivers, vehicles, and dwelling information can be exported directly into HawkSoft's insurance platform via an API connection through InsuranceGIG. Canopy Connect enables insurance professionals to demonstrate their expertise on navigating risk with a more complete view into a prospect's existing or prior policies.
"We share a common vision of helping agencies grow and removing friction from the agent and client experiences," said Tolga Tezel, founder and CEO at Canopy Connect. "That's why we're excited to be a Solution Partner with HawkSoft, which empowers us to deliver great experiences to agencies together."
"Independent agents need to become trusted experts for their policyholders," said Rushang Shah, CMO at HawkSoft. "To do that, agents need to intimately know their clients and their specific risk management needs. Canopy Connect makes this simple by automatically ingesting verified insurance information from each client's current personal and commercial policies. Agents no longer have to hunt and verify data from different carriers and policies."
Agencies that use HawkSoft as their management system can receive 10% off of Canopy Connect for the first year of service.
About HawkSoft
Since 1995, HawkSoft is a leader in management systems for independent insurance agencies that want effective workflows and a delightful experience for staff and policyholders. Created by independent agents, HawkSoft continues to evolve as a cutting-edge system that powers thousands of agencies. HawkSoft offers the following promise to insurance agents: your investment in HawkSoft will pay for itself in the first year. Learn more about HawkSoft's unique father-and-son story at www.hawksoft.com/story.
About Canopy Connect, Inc.
Canopy Connect enables insurance agencies to collect verified insurance information directly from carriers in seconds, resulting in a better client and agent experience. Through its consumer consent-driven data sharing technology and secure cloud infrastructure, Canopy Connect enables insurance agencies, agents, carriers, lenders, and insurance innovators to deliver delightful, intelligent, and frictionless insurance services.
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