NC Retailers Gain Access to New Health Insurance Plan

(Raleigh – February 24, 2025) The North Carolina Retail Merchants Association (NCRMA), the only advocacy organization for the retail industry in the state, is offering North Carolina retailers access to a newly formed Association Health Plan. The plan allows NCRMA retail members to enroll in high-quality health insurance and other benefits through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of NC (Blue Cross NC), the state’s largest not-for-profit health insurer.

Health care benefits are often out of reach for smaller, independent retail business owners. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), only 23% of employers with fewer than 10 employees offer health care benefits to their employees.¹  NCRMA’s Association Health Plan offers a new opportunity to access a variety of plans for medical, dental and vision coverage and, likely, with a reduction in cost.

Andy Ellen, President and General Counsel of NCRMA, is pleased the association can provide a new coverage option for NCRMA members. “Many of our independent retailers have a small number of employees. Despite a desire to provide benefits, the barriers of cost and limitations on insurance plans make it a challenge,” said Ellen. “By pooling retail business owners and employees under our Association Health Plan, we hope to bring down their overall costs and enable them to choose between a variety of plans– even if it is only one employee who needs that coverage.”

Offering health care benefits can be an important component to employee recruiting and retention.  “Often a great retail employee will leave a job they love because they need health care coverage. In fact, health insurance is easily one of the most requested issues our membership team encounters from business owners,” Ellen stated. NCRMA recognized that retailers needed more options and decided to act.

After careful consideration, NCRMA partnered with CAC Agency, one of the nation’s top insurance brokerage and consulting services, and Blue Cross NC, to tackle the problem of health care. NCRMA members have access to nine health plans, two dental plans, and a vision plan through Blue Cross NC, along with consulting, education, support, and consolidated billing services through CAC Agency. NCRMA also offers a full suite of administrative tools for retail employers to simplify the process of providing health insurance. Ellen added, “We’re pleased we now have a solution that offers business owners a greater number of options for coverage and, likely, at lower costs than they could get on their own.”

By leveraging the scale of the entire Association’s membership, many NCRMA members will be able to see significantly reduced premiums through the NCRMA’s health plan offerings. “For NCRMA retail members who enrolled for coverage beginning January 2025, the average savings was 6% in comparison to their previous plan’s cost,” according to CAC Agency’s Matt Cate, Senior VP, Employee Benefits. “In fact, we were able to save one member double that amount. Another was quoted a 22% savings.”

Joe Kimray, owner of B&W Hardware in Wake Forest, was one of the first business owners to join the NCRMA health plan. Kimray remarked, “The process was very easy. Rates were much better than what I had already selected through the Health Insurance Marketplace.  I am really pleased to have a new option for medical coverage.”

^1 Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). “New Research Examining ACA Impact on Employers Offering Health Insurance Finds a 5 Percent Increase in Worker Eligibility for Employment-Based Health Coverage Since 2014.” EBRI Press Release, October 31, 2023.