The Benefits Industry Never Owned Distribution. It Borrowed Access

UnionHub Introduces A2C, a New Model for Delivering Benefits and Value Programs Directly to the People Who Use Them

A direct, durable consumer connection that doesn't depend on payroll, the medical bundle, or any single point of access

DENVER, June 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- UnionHub today introduced A2C, or Access to Consumer, a new model for delivering benefits and value programs through a direct, lasting relationship with the consumer, rather than through the layered systems that have long sat between a product and the person using it. The model already supports more than $100 million in new insurance premiums, with self-enrollment rates above 90 percent.

For decades, voluntary benefits and similar programs have reached employees through a chain of intermediaries and manual processes. Because each layer adds cost and work, these programs have typically been bundled into the medical enrollment simply to make them feasible to administer. That bundling solves an operational problem for the organization, but it ties everything to the medical cycle and often leaves the employee with a fragmented experience.

A2C starts from a different place. It puts the consumer at the center and organizes the surrounding ecosystem of carriers, brokers, employers, unions, and associations around that relationship, through a single connected layer designed to make direct consumer access practical at scale.

"For years, access to the consumer has been controlled by whoever sits in the middle, and it has usually been borrowed rather than owned," said Edward Haley, Founder of UnionHub. "A2C creates a direct connection to the consumer that's supported by trusted institutions but doesn't disappear when the structure around it changes."

Because that connection is established directly with the consumer rather than through payroll, A2C is not bound by the constraints that have defined traditional benefits delivery. Organizations can offer programs with minimal administrative involvement. Engagement is no longer locked to open enrollment or renewal windows. And the relationship continues through transitions that would ordinarily break it, including when an employee changes jobs, retires, or transitions to COBRA, so coverage and payments can continue even for people who are no longer actively working.

In practice, that means an employee who changes jobs or retires keeps the coverage and programs they signed up for. They don't lose access because their employment did. None of the individual pieces are new. What is new is the way they are connected, and the constraints that connection removes. The result is a model where access no longer disappears when an employer changes vendors, a broker loses an account, or a renewal cycle resets the relationship. The relationship remains intact.

The model is built to operate within established regulatory frameworks, and it is administered to a state-by-state standard covering required disclosures, replacement notices, and cancellation timing across all 50 states. As a result, participating organizations are not taking on new administrative work or tracking jurisdictional differences themselves.

To date, the A2C model has supported more than $100 million in new insurance premiums, with self-enrollment rates exceeding 90 percent, across workforce environments that include enterprise-level and multi-employer groups in rail, logistics, construction, and transportation. The platform that runs the model now reaches a potential consumer audience of more than 3 million people.

While benefits are the first large-scale application, A2C is designed to support a broader category of member and employee value programs over time, including financial wellness, homeownership, education, and legacy planning, all delivered through the same trusted connection.

"What looks like competition in this industry is often just access changing hands," Haley added. "A2C makes that access direct and durable, strengthening the system for organizations, carriers, and consumers alike."

To learn more or schedule a demo, visit www.unionhub.com

UnionHub is an all-in-one platform built to simplify benefit management for associations, employers, TPAs, brokers, and insurance carriers. Through the Peak™ Platform, UnionHub brings enrollment, communications, compliance, payments, and CRM into a single system, supported by UnionHub IQ™, built-in intelligence that helps members and the teams who serve them understand benefits and make smarter decisions. The result is less paperwork, leaner operations, and better member service, all from one centralized hub.

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SOURCE UnionHub