America's Benefit Specialist May 2023

“The partnership with O’Neill Marketing creates huge opportunities for synergies for both SMS and Alliant,” said SMS President Jim Summers. “Coming off a record ACA open enrollment period and with recent legislation extending sub sidies for another three years, the timing could not be better for us to enter the under-65 health market.” Summers said O’Neill’s ACA expertise and technology were top reasons SMS sought the partnership, along with a shared commitment to serving agents and their clients, and a wide ACA product portfolio with ancillary products available for add-on sales. Chuck O’Neill founded O’Neill Marketing in 2016, and with Kerry Van Iseghem leading the organization as chief execu tive officer, the two grew the general agency to support 1,500 agents nationwide with cutting-edge agency management tools, strategic partnerships with web-based platforms for quoting and selling insurance, agent empowerment and marketing resources, back-office support and products from more than 100 health carriers. INTEGRITY ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIPS Integrity Marketing Group LLC has acquired MediSource, an independent marketing organization based in Little Rock, Arkansas. As part of the acquisition, Richard Dale “RD” Roulston, president of MediSource, will become a managing partner in Integrity. With over two decades of experience in the Medicare industry, Roulston and his team understand how crucial healthcare insurance is when completing a client’s retire ment plan. MediSource guides seniors through the transition to Medicare, providing a simplified experience that helps en sure each senior gets coverage that fits their specific needs. MediSource continues to experience significant growth each year, serving thousands of clients annually through its com petent and well-informed team of agents. Integrity has also acquired Easy Street Insurance, an independent marketing organization based in Indianapolis. Sandra Carrasquillo, president of Easy Street Insurance, and Jess Carrasquillo, vice president of Easy Street Insurance, will become managing partners in Integrity. Easy Street Insurance has been an influential Medicare provider for more than two decades. Sandra Carrasquillo founded the company after recognizing how important nav igating Medicare is—especially for new enrollees—and has worked to cultivate a relaxed, informative and service-cen tered environment that puts clients first. Known for nur turing long-term client relationships, Easy Street Insurance specializes in simplifying the Medicare process and guiding clients to optimal coverage solutions for their needs.

CONTINENTAL GENERAL ACQUIRES BLOCK OF LTC POLICIES Continental General Insurance Company has signed a de finitive agreement to acquire a block of long-term care poli cies from Elevance Health Inc. The acquisition, which will be one of the few successfully consummated LTC transactions in the last decade, comes on the heels of the company’s recently launched third-party administrator, Continental General Services. The transaction with Elevance Health will allow policyhold ers to benefit from Continental General’s more than 60 years’ experience administering and managing insurance blocks. David Ramsey, president and CEO of Continental General, commented: “Working alongside Elevance Health, our teams will ensure a seamless transition for all policyholders.” ARTHUR J. GALLAGHER & CO. ANNOUNCES ACQUISITIONS Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. recently announced the acquisition of Wichita Falls, Texas-based Boley-Featherston Insurance. Boley-Featherston is a retail insurance agency with expertise in oil and gas, construction, healthcare and benefits consult ing, serving clients throughout Texas and the surrounding region. Josh Andrajack, Cameron Cremeens, Robbie Martin and their team will remain in their current location under the direction of Bret VanderVoort, head of Gallagher’s South Central retail property/casualty brokerage operations. Gallagher has also completed the previously disclosed ac quisition of the partnership interests of BCHR Holdings L.P., dba Buck. Buck is an integrated provider of HR, pensions and employee benefits consulting, technology and administra tion services throughout the US, Canada and the UK. Buck’s team of 2,300 employees will operate under the direction of William Ziebell, head of Gallagher’s employee benefits con sulting and brokerage operations. Finally, Gallagher has announced the acquisition of Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Stewart, Brimner, Peters & Company, Inc. SBP is a retail insurance broker offering a variety of com mercial and personal insurance products along with employ ee benefits consulting to clients in central and northern Indi ana. Jason Brimner, John Brimner, Jeff Peters, Mick Stewart and their team will remain in their current location under the direction of Sean Gallagher, head of Gallagher’s Great Lakes region retail property/casualty brokerage operations. SPROUTT ACQUIRES THE REDER AGENCY Sproutt, the life insurance company that modernizes life insurance for agencies, agents and their customers, has announced the acquisition of The Reder Agency, a full-ser-

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