Houston Employee Benefits Broker (2026): What Groups Pay, TMC Hospitals, and Energy Crews

Kenly Insurance Advisors is the Houston employee benefits broker for Texas groups that want a named independent shopping the Harris County market. Kenly is based in Corpus Christi and licensed statewide (Clint Wallace, Lic 3200999 / NPN 21250478). Houston groups get the same process as every other Kenly census: dates of birth, gender, and zip, side-by-side carrier quotes, and a $0 fee to the employer. Carriers pay Kenly. Groups run from 2 to 250+ employees. Kenly does not cap group size.

What Houston groups actually pay in 2026, from Kenly's live cost pages: employer share is $315 to $350 per enrolled employee per month. Ten enrolled budget about $3,150 to $3,500 a month. Eight enrolled (usual 75 percent participation, no valid waivers) budget about $2,520 to $2,800. Houston full single (employee-only) sticker is about $630 to $705 metro. Statewide sticker is $625 to $680. A healthy group on a level-funded plan often prices 15 to 30 percent below fully insured. Ten enrolled Houston lives on level-funded land around $2,200 to $2,980 a month. Dental plus vision adds $31 to $45 if the company pays it, or $0 as voluntary.

Houston Methodist, Memorial Hermann, and Baylor St. Luke's at the Texas Medical Center are the campuses many employees already use. Energy employers (oil and gas, midstream, field crews across Harris County) need a different footprint than an office sitting next to TMC. Kenly shops Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) fully insured and level-funded, plus UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Angle Health, Trustmark, and Sana when the census fits. Cigna is large-group medical only. Do not quote Cigna for Houston small-group medical. Kenly has 34 Google reviews.

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Planning bands from Kenly's live average cost of small business health insurance in Texas page and the health insurance for 10 employees in Texas page. Not a binder. Age, zip, plan design, and funding type still move the number. Houston sits on the statewide line.

Annualize the 10-enrolled row and Houston is about $37,800 to $42,000 a year, medical only. Dependents push the check up. A younger census or a tighter network pulls it down.

Most Texas small-group carriers want the employer to pay at least 50 percent of employee-only (a carrier rule, not a Texas statute) and about 75 percent participation after valid waivers. Ten eligible with no waivers usually produce about 8 enrollments. Crossing from 9 into 10 often does more for the unit price than adding the tenth paycheck. At 50 or more full-time equivalent employees the case leaves small-group pricing. Kenly still places those groups. Kenly writes 2 to 250+. Kenly does not cap.

Pick the hospital system your people already use. Then pick the carrier. Houston is not one network.

Texas Medical Center is the dense hospital campus in Houston. The three systems Houston groups name most often are Houston Methodist, Memorial Hermann, and Baylor St. Luke's. Methodist's TMC flagship is Houston Methodist Hospital. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center sits on Fannin. Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center is the St. Luke's campus at TMC (McNair is the related campus). Those are public campus names. They are not a promise that every 2026 plan includes them.

Kenly does not claim that any 2026 BCBSTX, UnitedHealthcare, or Aetna plan includes or excludes a named Houston campus. Confirm Houston Methodist, Memorial Hermann-TMC, and Baylor St. Luke's on the quote you intend to bind. Confirm community campuses too (Sugar Land, The Woodlands, Katy, Baytown, Clear Lake, Cypress, Energy Corridor). A downtown PPO can look broad from a TMC office and still run thin for a crew in Pasadena or Baytown.

A focused network can price 10 to 20 percent below an open-access PPO only if the hospitals your people already use sit inside it. If half the census treats at Methodist and the other half uses Memorial Hermann in Katy, quote both a broad PPO and a tighter network. Keep the campuses that matter in writing before you bind.

Houston's energy employers (oil and gas operators, midstream, service companies, and field crews) do not live the same medical week as a professional-services office parked next to TMC.

A TMC-adjacent office group often cares that Houston Methodist, Memorial Hermann-TMC, and Baylor St. Luke's are in-network, because that is where those employees already go. A field census is different. People live and work across Harris County and the ring (Katy, Baytown, Pasadena, The Woodlands). They use community campuses and whatever ER is closest to the job. They need a footprint that still works when the crew is not downtown.

Say that plainly on the intake. "Office at TMC" and "field crews across Harris County" are two different quotes, even at the same energy company. BCBSTX is often the default when people work in the field. UnitedHealthcare and Aetna still belong on the same census. Do not pick the logo first. Pick the footprint.

Texas small-group premiums are rated by area. Harris County is the Houston rating area that sets the geography on the quote. The same plan design does not price the same in Harris County as it does in Bexar, Travis, or Nueces. Age mix is still the largest single driver of where a census lands inside (or outside) the $625 to $680 statewide sticker. Put every home zip on the census. Do not send a single office zip and assume a field crew prices like the downtown office.

Fully insured is a fixed premium. The carrier takes every claims dollar. It issues on a census with almost no health questions.

Level-funded looks like a premium on the invoice, but part of the payment funds the group's own claims account, with stop-loss capping the downside. Unused claims dollars can come back at year end. Healthy groups often price 15 to 30 percent below fully insured. On a Houston 10-enrolled fully insured cost of $3,150 to $3,500, that is about $2,200 to $2,980 a month. Quote both. Level-funded usually opens at 5 to 9 lives. Full comparison: level-funded vs fully insured health insurance in Texas.

BCBSTX is on both sides of that table. Kenly quotes Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas fully insured and level-funded for Houston groups. Do not treat BCBSTX as fully insured only.

Kenly is independent. There is no single-carrier pitch. The same Houston census goes out, and you see the quotes side by side.

Cigna is large-group medical only. Do not tell a Houston small group to quote Cigna for small-group medical. Carrier menus: best small-group health carriers in Texas.

1. Census: eligible employees with date of birth, gender, and home zip. Dependents if you want family tiers.
2. Employer EIN.
3. Confirmation you have at least 2 eligible employees. Groups run from 2 to 250+. Kenly does not cap.
4. Current contribution, or that you will start at about 50 percent of employee-only.
5. Hospital systems your people already use: Houston Methodist, Memorial Hermann, Baylor St. Luke's, a community campus, or "field crew, Harris County wide."
6. Current plan and renewal date if you are replacing coverage.

Quotes typically return in about 48 hours once the census is in. Medical setup takes 3 to 4 weeks, effective the first of a month. Some ancillary and voluntary products can install in about 15 days. Medical coverage does not run on that 15-day clock. Broker cost is $0. Carriers pay Kenly.

Kenly is an independent Texas broker from Corpus Christi, licensed statewide. It shops Houston groups the same way: census, side-by-side, $0 fee. The live slug /houston-employee-benefits is this page. Kenly has 34 Google reviews.

These tables are 2026 planning ranges, not a binder. A real number needs ages, zips, and campuses.

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No cost to the employer. Licensed Texas employee-benefits brokerage (Clint Wallace, Lic 3200999 / NPN 21250478). Groups 2 to 250+. Kenly does not cap. $0. Carriers pay Kenly.