Small Group Health Insurance for Ohio Businesses

McCarthy Stevenot Agency, Inc. focuses on small group health insurance for Ohio businesses with 2–50 employees. We assist employers with evaluating plan options, managing enrollment, supporting employees, and reviewing coverage at renewal—providing clear, practical guidance and year-round service to help business owners make informed decisions.

Services

For over three decades, McCarthy Stevenot Agency, Inc. has focused on small group health insurance. It’s not just one of many things we do—it’s the main thing we do. We help Ohio businesses with 2–50 employees find, implement, and manage health insurance plans that balance coverage, cost, and administrative complexity.

To help business owners better understand how small group health insurance works in Ohio, we’ve also published an educational resource: Small Group Health Insurance in Ohio. It explains the different plan options available to small employers and the trade-offs involved, so you can make informed decisions before, during, and after enrollment.

We know that as a small business owner, you wear many hats. Dealing with health insurance can feel overwhelming. Our agency serves as an extension of your team, handling the heavy lifting of plan research, enrollment, and ongoing administration so you can concentrate on running your business. We aim to be practical and proactive, helping ensure you don’t feel lost in the fine print.

We offer client support through the entire lifecycle of your group health plan:

Plan Evaluation & Selection: We begin by learning about your company’s needs, budget, and workforce. Then we research available options from Ohio’s health insurance marketplace. This includes traditional ACA-compliant small group plans as well as alternative choices like association plans (MEWAs) and level-funded plans. We explain the different small group plan options available in Ohio in detail so you can understand how each approach works and what trade-offs to consider. Because we’re an independent broker, we work with multiple major carriers (and their special programs) – not just one. When available, you’ll receive clear, side-by-side comparisons and honest recommendations about which plan(s) best fit your situation. Our goal is to find you the optimal balance of coverage and cost.

Smooth Enrollment Process: Once you decide on a plan, we guide you through implementation. We assist with all the paperwork and online portals to help enroll your employees with ease. Our goal is to make sure your plan goes live without a hitch.

Employee Education & Onboarding: Health insurance can be unfamiliar territory for many employees, especially when they’re seeing a plan for the first time. We focus on helping employers and their teams understand how their coverage works, what it costs, and how to use it effectively.

For clients in Southwest Ohio, we can meet in person to walk employees through their benefits and answer questions. For employers elsewhere in Ohio, we offer virtual meetings or written materials that cover the same ground. The goal is simple: employees have the information they need to feel comfortable using their coverage, and employers spend less time fielding questions after enrollment.

Year-Round Service & Support: Our commitment to you continues all year long, not just at signup or renewal. Have a question about your billing statement? Need to add a new hire to the plan, or remove someone who left? Is an employee encountering a claim denial or confusion about coverage? Call or email us – we’re on it. We respond promptly to service requests, typically by the next business day (and often sooner). You won’t be stuck on hold with a faceless 1-800 number; you’ll get help from the same friendly team you’ve come to know. No issue is too small. If it matters to you or your employees, it matters to us.

Annual Renewal & Rate Review: One of the most important services we provide happens at renewal time each year. Health insurance rates and products change frequently, especially in the small group market. Rather than simply rubber-stamping your renewal, we proactively review it. We’ll provide you with a clear renewal summary and also investigate alternative plans that could save you money or offer better coverage. Often this involves updating your group’s prescreen data and getting fresh quotes from multiple carriers. Every year, every client – whether you have 2 employees or 50 – gets the opportunity to compare your current plan against the market. We’ll present the options we find and counsel you on the trade-offs, so you can make an informed decision to either stay with your plan or switch to a better one. And we do this at no extra charge. It’s simply part of taking good care of our clients.

Why Choose McCarthy Stevenot Agency, Inc?

We understand you have choices when it comes to insurance brokers. Here are a few reasons small businesses across Ohio choose (and stay with) McCarthy Stevenot Agency, Inc for their health insurance needs.

Our entire business is built around helping small employers. We aren’t distracted by chasing large corporate accounts or actively seeking sales for unrelated insurance products. By focusing on groups of 2–50 employees (and especially those in the 5–25 range), we’ve developed a deep understanding of what companies like yours require.

Here’s more on how we support clients over the long term.

True Small Group Focus: Our entire business is built around helping small employers. We’ve developed a deep understanding of what companies like yours require. This focus means we know the quirks of the small group market and how to navigate them to your advantage.

Deep Ohio Market Knowledge: As a local Ohio-based agency, we know the ins and outs of our state’s health insurance options. Plans and regulations can vary by state and we make it our business to stay on top of what’s happening here in Ohio. For example, we keep close track of the multiple employer welfare arrangements (MEWAs) offered through Ohio trade associations a nd chambers of commerce, as well as the latest small-group offerings from the major carriers. We closely track how association plans perform over time and can help identify which options tend to be more cost-effective for small businesses. These insights can save you both time and money. You won’t get that level of nuanced Ohio-specific guidance from a national call center or a generic website.

Personalized, High-Touch Service: When we say every client counts, we truly mean it. You’ll never feel like “just another account” with us. Instead, you get a dedicated, hands-on partner. We tailor our communication and service to what works for you—whether that’s scheduling face-to-face meetings or handling everything via phone/email for convenience. And if an urgent issue arises (a complex claim, a coverage question, etc.), you have direct access to real people who care and can act quickly.

Independent and Client-Focused: We are a privately owned, independent agency. That means our loyalty is 100% to our clients and not to any insurance company’s sales quotas or a parent corporation’s agenda. We’ve deliberately chosen to remain independent (despite offers to sell or merge into larger firms) because it allows us to always put our clients first. Our advice is unbiased. When available, we’ll compare multiple carriers and give you an honest take on each, without any pressure to “sell” a particular one. This independence also means we answer only to you, and we measure our success by your satisfaction and well-being.

No Extra Fees: We believe in providing maximum value to our clients. As a broker, we are typically compensated by the insurance carriers, which means you don’t pay us a separate broker fee for our standard services. Unlike some agencies, we do not charge consulting fees for things like renewal analyses or troubleshooting issues. Those services are included as part of being your agent. In fact, if you’re coming from an agency that tacks on extra fees, moving to us can actually save you money while likely getting better service. Similarly, and with most major carriers, you can get all our attention and support at the same price as going directly through the insurance company.

Honesty & Transparency: Our business has thrived for over 30 years because of the trust we’ve built. We foster that trust by being open and truthful in every aspect of our work. We’ll give you straightforward explanations of plan details (no jargon overload), realistic expectations about costs, and forthright recommendations. If something isn’t in your best interest, we’ll say so. Even if it means advising you to stick with your current plan or take a solution we don’t directly provide. We want long-term relationships, and that only happens when you know we’re always looking out for you.

Proudly Serving Ohio’s Small Businesses

McCarthy Stevenot Agency, Inc. is proudly rooted in Southwest Ohio, and we value the community we’ve been part of for decades. Many of our clients are located in the Greater Cincinnati and Dayton areas, where we’re readily available for in-person visits and support. However, our commitment to Ohio’s small businesses doesn’t stop at our local region. We are licensed to serve clients throughout the state. Whether your company is in Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, or a small town in between, you can expect the same level of attentive service. We understand Ohio’s insurance climate statewide, and we’re just a phone call or email away. In short, if your business is in Ohio, we’re here to help. No distance is too far for quality service.