An independent agency
Waugh Agency is an independent employee benefits agency based in Andover, Massachusetts. We advise employers on group health insurance and the administration and compliance that come with it — mostly companies between five and five hundred benefit-eligible employees, and increasingly companies whose people are spread across a dozen states.
Independent means we are appointed with many carriers and paid the same regardless of which one you choose. It is a straightforward arrangement, and it is the reason the advice can be straightforward too.
What we are actually good at
Funding strategy, principally. Most brokers present the renewal they were given. We model fully insured, level-funded and self-funded against the same census and the same benefits, and show the arithmetic — including the bad year, which is the part that usually gets left out of a self-funding pitch.
After that, the parts of this work that nobody enjoys: ACA reporting, Form 5500, wrap documents, Section 125 restatements, COBRA notices, and the multistate paid leave programmes that arrive quietly when you hire someone in a new state. We do these because they are where employers get hurt, not because they are interesting.
How we are paid
Commission from the carriers, at rates that do not vary by carrier, or a flat fee where an employer prefers that. Either way the number is disclosed. We will tell you what we earn on your account if you ask, and we would rather you asked.
Who we work with
Employers who want the funding question examined properly rather than answered by habit. Employers with people in several states who have realised that creates obligations they cannot easily list. And employers who have discovered a compliance gap and would like it closed without a great deal of drama.
We are a small agency and we say no to work that is not a fit. If a different arrangement would serve you better, we will tell you that instead of quoting anyway.
Where to go next
Start a conversation Group health insurance
Our full site, including Medicare, individual, self-employed and travel coverage, is at waughagency.com.