Boston, MA Risk Strategies, a privately held, growing national insurance brokerage and risk management firm, has acquired Academic HealthPlans, Inc. (AHP), a national leader in the creation and administration of health insurance plans that colleges and universities make available to its students. Terms of the deal were not made public.

Building on its 2017 purchase of University Health Plans, Risk Strategies’ acquisition of AHP establishes the firm as the nation’s largest broker of student health insurance plans and related administrative services. Based near Fort Worth in Grapevine, Texas, AHP counts over 150 colleges and universities nationally as clients, from small and mid-sized institutions to major university systems.

“High-quality, affordable and simple-to-navigate student health insurance offerings are important for higher education institutions, and AHP is a proven leader in this arena,” said John Greenbaum, Risk Strategies’ employee benefits practice leader. “From plan creation to ongoing administration, AHP’s focused expertise makes them a great fit for our approach to problem solving and client service.”

Founded in 1998, AHP has been consistently on the leading edge of innovation in both its approach to structuring plans and benefits and in its adoption of technology and processes that provide an intuitive and streamlined student and administrator experience. Tailored to the needs of both international and domestic students, AHP-developed and managed programs place an emphasis on education, ensuring students have the resources they need to understand and use their health benefits.

“I started Academic HealthPlans with a sole focus — to provide care-driven, flexible solutions to help institutions meet the diverse health insurance needs of their students,” said AHP’s founder and CEO, Terry Lyons. “Risk Strategies understands the value of specialty expertise and innovation to solve today’s complex healthcare challenges, so joining up with them seemed like the best way to solve that challenge for our clients and expand our business and capabilities. We expect this event to be transparent to our clients, employees and business partners. I am very excited about the opportunity to lead Risk Strategies’ student health business.”