We recently received an 18% rate increase from Harvard Pilgrim for my business and I decided that I would finally back-check my broker and determine if there might be someone more competent than him in the market. I met with Michael McCullom of CBG and was very impressed with his vast knowledge and his extremely innovative approach to this hefty increase.Mr. McCullom was able to negotiate the original renewal increase down to 7% and he also offered a Voluntary Benefit that would allow my employees to self-insure the plans $1,000 deductible through AFLAC. For less than $5.00 per month, an employee was able to purchase a plan that would pay in the event an employee incurred this $1,000 deductible expense. The AFLAC plan kicked in for In-Patient Admissions; Out-Patient Surgeries; and Advanced Diagnostic Testing , which were the three instances that the Plan would require the participant to pay this deductible.I was incredibly impressed with his insight and he even helped me reduce my EMAC liability and also brought our plan into ACA compliance - all of these services including the COBRA administration was done for free. If your broker is not offering you this type of value - you should do as I did and consider calling CBG.