The State Chamber of Oklahoma has spent the last four years studying the success of other state chambers of commerce that offer healthcare insurance programs for small businesses, the backbone of local chambers.

That study time has been well spent, said State Chamber COO Carla Schaeperkoetter. For business owners with 2 to 50 employees, an hour Friday morning from 8 to 9 will be well spent learning more about Oklahoma’s ChamberCare program at the Health Careers auditorium of the Red River Technology Center in Duncan.

Duncan’s Chamber of Commerce will be one of the first local chambers to host an informational meeting about Chamber Care. The partnership with local chambers is key to the success of the program, Schaeperkoetter said. ChamberCare received the go-ahead from the Oklahoma Insurance Department in August.

“We’ve put a lot of effort into this, building partnerships — the way it’s worked so well in other states,” she said. “Anyone can get quoted, but if it’s a great fit and they’re not a local Chamber member, they have to become a member.”

ChamberCare will be administered by Allied, using the extensive Aetna Signature Administrators network, which is here to provide your business with cost-saving healthcare plans.

The program will begin with a handful of brokers initially that is expected to grow in 2025. The broker names will be familiar to many, including BancFirst, Brown & Brown, Regent (of Tulsa), Enlightened Benefits, Summit, and Tedford.

“It’s not easy for small businesses to do self-funded (health insurance) on their own,” Schaeperkoetter said. “It will be cheaper for Chamber members than if they’re out there on their own.”
The opportunities with ChamberCare are real, but not every business will benefit, she said.
“It’s definitely worth getting quoted,” she added.

Informational meetings such as the one scheduled on Friday usually include a broker if business owners want to discuss ChamberCare right away.