How does Service 1st Benefits support my business during open enrollment?

We personally manage the entire open enrollment process — from educating employees to handling enrollment forms and answering plan questions. Our goal is to make open enrollment smooth and stress-free for everyone.

Can employees contact you directly for help?

Yes. Employees can reach out to us anytime for questions about claims, coverage, ID cards, or plan details. We act as your team’s benefits partner, not just your broker.

What size businesses do you work with?

We specialize in serving small and medium-sized businesses, typically ranging from 1–200 employees. If you’re growing or planning to expand, we help scale your benefits as your team grows.

Do you handle communication with insurance carriers for us?

Absolutely. We take care of claims issues, employee changes, renewals, and any carrier communication so you don’t have to spend hours on hold.

Do you offer voluntary or supplemental benefits?

Yes. We can provide optional add-ons like disability, accident, or critical illness insurance to enhance your benefits package at little or no cost to the employer.

What types of group benefits do you offer?

We provide comprehensive group health, dental, vision, and life insurance options for small and medium-sized businesses. We help you compare plans, handle enrollment, and manage carrier communication.

What information do you need to provide a quote?

We typically need: Number of employees Basic employee census (age, gender, ZIP code) Current plan (if applicable) Desired benefits or coverage goals We keep the process as simple as possible.

Do you charge fees for your services?

No. Our services — including plan comparison, open enrollment, and year-round support — are provided at no additional cost to your business.

Employee Benefits Broker vs. Going Direct: What Norman & OKC Small Businesses Need to Know

Charlie Hopgood
4 days ago
2 min read

Short answer: going direct almost never saves you money, and it almost always costs you time. Here's why, and when it might actually make sense to skip a broker.

The broker doesn't cost you anything extra

This surprises people every time. Broker compensation is built into the carrier's premium whether you use a broker or not — carriers price that in regardless. Skip the broker and you don't get a discount. You just do the work yourself for free, and the carrier keeps the difference.

What you actually give up by going direct

Market access. A carrier's direct sales team sells you their plans. A broker shows you BCBS OK, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, and regional options side by side, and tells you honestly which one fits your group and your budget.

Renewal negotiation. Every year, your renewal comes in higher than you'd like. A carrier rep's job is to renew you. A broker's job is to push back, shop the market as leverage, and get you a number you can live with.

Administration. Enrollment, terminations, COBRA, life events, payroll sync — going direct means your office manager or HR person owns all of it, with no system built for it. A broker running Employee Navigator gives your employees self-service enrollment and keeps everything synced automatically.

A human when something breaks. Claim denied. Employee added a dependent mid-year and it didn't process. Carrier's 1-800 line has you on hold for forty minutes. Direct means you're on your own. A local broker means you call someone who already knows your account.

Where the "big national broker" comparison matters too

If you're shopping brokers and not just broker-vs-direct, know this: the big names (Gallagher, USI, Hub) will tell you scale gets you better pricing. In practice, at the 10–150 employee size, scale mostly gets you a call center and an account rep who changes every 18 months. What actually moves your renewal number is a broker who knows your group, knows the local carrier landscape, and picks up the phone. That's a service model, not a size problem.

When going direct might actually make sense

If you're at 2-3 employees and your plan choices are genuinely simple, the administrative overhead of a broker relationship may not be worth it yet. That's rare in the 10+ range, but we'll tell you straight if that's where you are — we'd rather have your business at 25 employees than pretend you need us at 3.

Start here

If you're currently direct with a carrier or working with a broker who hasn't called you since your last renewal, get a second set of eyes on your plan before your next renewal date. Reach out to Service 1st Benefits — we'll tell you plainly whether a broker relationship would actually move the needle for your group.