Integrity Marketing Group has acquired Stride, a portable benefits platform serving more than 4.6 million independent workers, in a deal that extends the Medicare Advantage and life insurance distributor into under-65 gig worker health enrollment - a different demographic, a different regulatory environment and a different distribution model from the book that has defined Integrity's growth to date.
The strategic pivot is the more significant detail. Integrity operates a nationwide distribution network of more than 600,000 agents and advisors, with its existing book centered on Medicare Advantage and life insurance distribution - a predominantly older demographic operating under CMS plan structures and defined regulatory oversight. Stride's platform serves gig and self-employed workers in the individual market, where carrier relationships, plan types and regulatory requirements differ materially. Managing both from the same platform and agent network is a more complex operational proposition than adding a complementary distribution channel, and the IntegrityCONNECT integration that combines Stride's digital enrollment with Integrity's agent-assisted model is the mechanism through which the company is attempting to bridge the two.
Stride integrates with more than 140 workforce and payroll organisations, with distribution partners including Uber, DoorDash, Amazon Flex, Lyft and Gusto, through which gig workers access health and benefits enrollment. Its tools cover health plan comparison, enrollment and tax savings features for self-employed and contract workers. Stride's consumer marketplace and enrollment capabilities will be integrated into IntegrityCONNECT, Integrity's AI-powered technology ecosystem, supporting both digital self-service enrollment and agent-assisted experiences across health, dental, vision, life and supplemental coverage. Integrity's 600,000-plus agent network will gain access to Stride's platform to serve gig and self-employed clients outside traditional group benefit channels.
More than 72 million US workers now earn income through freelance, contract, gig or other non-traditional employment models, according to MBO Partners data, most without access to employer-sponsored benefits. Full-time independent workers more than doubled from 13.6 million to 27.7 million between 2020 and 2024, and freelancers are projected to make up more than 50% of the US workforce by 2027, per BRI projections. BRI put the US gig economy market at $556.7 billion in 2024, with projections toward $2.15 trillion by 2033. A 2024 McKinsey report estimated that up to 36% of US workers engage in some form of independent work.
The regulatory backdrop adds urgency to the distribution question. At least 12 states proposed or passed legislation addressing worker misclassification in 2025 and 2026 - reform that could affect how gig platforms structure their workforce arrangements and therefore how portable benefits like Stride's are accessed and priced. Unlike traditional employer plans, Stride's portable model allows coverage to follow a worker across different platforms and employment arrangements, which is precisely the feature that misclassification legislation makes more rather than less commercially relevant.
The acquisition means Integrity now operates a consumer-facing digital enrollment channel alongside its traditional agent-assisted model, extending its position in the under-65 market while giving Stride the distribution scale of one of the largest independent agent networks in the country. Financial terms were not disclosed.
