About Us

Meet our Leadership TEAM

We can’t wait to share this model with you, just as we have with some of the most successful companies in the Bay Area.

Brian Howard

Founder & CEO

Stacie Stuart

Vice President

Bob Duch

Partner

John Webb

Chief Operating Officer

Matt Laporta

Advisory Board Member

It’s time for a healthier model for employer insurance.

We understand that many employers have reluctantly accepted how our current healthcare system operates and figure that’s just how it has to be. We also realize that change is intimidating and a new approach like ours may seem too good to be true.

Well, that’s exactly what the companies we now call clients thought until they talked with our team, vetted our innovative, solutions-oriented Cost Plus model, and saw the undeniable benefits.

Our Goal

To offer accessible, high quality health care at a fair market price. 

Through our Cost Plus Model, we’ve been able to deliver on this goal. It starts with being aboveboard with everything. Clients can see how much a hospital bill was, what the discount was, what their fees were to get the discount. There’s nothing hidden in the process.

Our Philosophy

These are the three principles that guide all our client relationships.

  • Be transparent and open
  • Create a healthcare system that gives control back to employers
  • Educate companies & people on the problems with the healthcare system

BY THE NUMBERS

The healthcare dilemma

The numbers don’t lie when it comes to the out-of-control costs and impact of our current health insurance system.

Deductibles have risen over 60% since 2010

SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation survey of employer-sponsored health benefits

Premiums have shot up over 25% since 2010

SOURCE: Kaiser Family Foundation survey of employer-sponsored health benefits

Medical bills are the #1 cause of personal BANKRUPTCY

SOURCE: 2019 study by academic researchers published in the American Journal for Public Health

Our Services

With Amity Benefits of Tampa Bay, your employees still have access to all the healthcare services they need, but now they’ll pay less for them.

Medical

Dental

Vision

Short Term Disability

Long Term Disability

Voluntary and Basic Life

Accidental Death and Dismemberment

Telemedicine

Amity Gives Back

We believe our profits are to stay in our communities, this is why Amity Benefits gives back to the great organizations we believe in and are proud to partner with.

Learn More
We have saved a substantial amount in the last two plus years on our plan.”
Dawn HuntMarine Max
It was a win-win. Our employees had less money to pay out, and we saved money."
Ed ShawThe Caspar Companies
Would I recommend the cost plus model to another company? Absolutely."
Steve DeckerDow Electronics

The Amity Pitch

Look, it’s natural to feel a certain loyalty to your broker and insurance provider. There’s a perceived level of comfort and safety. But don’t you owe it to your company, and especially your employees, to consider proven alternatives that are disrupting the industry? We can take you through specific case studies, identify the most promising areas of cost-reduction, and do a side-by-side comparison with your current health insurance plan. The first step is contacting us or requesting a complimentary review below.

Brian
Howard

FOUNDER & CEO

Brian has been in the insurance industry for nearly 15 years. Having garnered a reputation of honesty and sincerity, Brian and his team became increasingly frustrated with bringing renewal increase after renewal increase to their clients. Likewise, their clients voiced frustration with healthcare. Every year they faced a choice—either absorb the increase and fund it at the company level or pass the increase on to their employees in the form of higher payroll deductions, or worse, reduced benefits.

The traditional form of healthcare, as we’ve come to know it, just wasn’t working for Brian’s clients or for their employees. In an effort to cut costs and give back to clients, Brian started Amity Benefits.

Founded in 2018 as a market disruptor, our entire organization is focused on reducing overall healthcare costs by attacking the two largest cost factors of healthcare—facility claims and pharmaceuticals. By reducing overall healthcare spend, we are able to partner with clients to offer their employees better benefits at a reduced cost.

Stacie
Stuart

Vice President

Stacie is not stranger to the Tampa Bay community. In fact, she was born and raised in St. Petersburg, FL. It’s not surprising that she graduated from The University of Florida in 2009, she decided to move back to the area and start her career.

While her roles prior to Amity Benefits have spanned industries, one thing has been consistent-her role as client advocate. She is deeply rooted in the relationships she develops with her clients and always puts the client’s best interest first. Her most recent role, working for a technology based company, introduced to her the world of healthcare benefits and allowed her to see, first hand, the impact benefits have on each individual of the organization. By analyzing data and trends within the insurance industry, Stacie is able to help her clients make informed decisions.

In addition to advocating for her clients, Stacie also advocates for our communities most disadvantaged youth as a member of the Junior League of Tampa. Stacie currently resides in South Tampa with her husband and daughter Gracie. 

Bob
Duch

Partner

With a major in Economics and a minor in Mathematics, Bob started his benefits career over 30 years ago with Buck Consultants, Inc. in New York City where he worked in an actuarial department on defined benefit pension plan valuations. During this time he completed and passed his first actuary exam.

After a year in New York, Bob moved to Denver to work in the benefits department of Johnson & Higgins, now part of Marsh & McLennan Companies. A year later he took the position of group benefits manager at a local Denver firm.

In 1988 Bob started his own firm and soon counted three of Colorado’s top ten privately held companies as clients, including PCL Construction Enterprises, a Fortune Top 100 Company to Work For, and the 5th largest general contractor in the U.S. according to Engineering News Record. With his mathematical background and analytical abilities Bob understood and embraced self-funding for its flexibility and cost effectiveness. He also pays particular attention to tax ramifications in structuring overall benefit design and employee contributions. “Why not call a portion of employee medical contributions a long term disability contribution, thus making potential long term disability benefits tax free?”

Well known for his insurance expertise, Bob accepted an invitation to serve on the Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry’s insurance Advisory Board. He has also served attorneys as an Expert Witness in regards to health insurance legal disputes.