Long-term care planning is rarely a comfortable conversation. It’s the kind that lingers at the edges of financial planning meetings, acknowledged and then quietly postponed.
Collaborative Insurance Solutions (CIS) invites those conversations with empathy, clarity, and respect for the deeply personal choices that come with them.
CIS doesn’t fit the traditional mold of an insurance agency. There are no hard sells and no one-size-fits-all playbooks. Instead, it exists to serve as a partner for financial advisors, estate-planning attorneys, and other professionals who want to help their clients think more deeply about how care, aging, and security intersect.
“We built CIS with one goal in mind, and that was to collaborate,” says Austin Hultquist, CLTC® and RICP®, Senior Insurance Strategist at CIS. “We work alongside financial advisors and attorneys to bring long-term care planning into their client conversations in a meaningful way. We’re not product-driven; we’re education-driven. Our focus is to understand what’s truly important to people and then find the right solution to match.”
That idea of education over sales and collaboration over competition sits at the center of everything CIS does.
The Agency That Refused to Reduce the Human Element
When CIS President Eryka Morehead founded the agency a decade ago, she saw a gap that few others wanted to fill. Advisors and attorneys were comfortable with investments, retirement strategies, and tax planning, but when it came to long-term care, the conversations often stopped short.
We’re not product-driven. We’re education-driven. Our focus is to understand what’s truly important to people and then find the right solution to match.
“I realized that many professionals in our industry avoided long-term care discussions because they were afraid of not having all the answers,” Morehead recalls. “And I don’t blame them. It’s not just about numbers; it’s about fears, about aging, about vulnerability. But those are exactly the conversations that matter most.”
Instead of shying away, CIS leaned in. The agency made it its mission to educate both advisors and their clients, to demystify long-term care, explain its role in financial planning, and address the emotions that come with it. From the start, Morehead designed CIS to operate differently: a specialized agency focused solely on the core protection side of financial planning, including life insurance, disability coverage, and long-term care.
“You can’t be an expert in everything,” she says. “We decided to be experts in the things that most people find hardest to talk about.”
Behind Every Plan, a Story
When a financial advisor reaches out to CIS for help, the process starts not with products or premiums but with understanding. The team meets with the advisor to study their client’s financial plan, their assets, and their cash flow now and into retirement. They review health histories and family situations. They ask about fears, responsibilities, and personal goals.
It’s methodical, yes, but also deeply human. Hultquist describes their process as “equal parts science and empathy.”
“Every client’s situation is different,” he explains. “We have to look at the financial structure and what makes sense within their balance sheet, but just as importantly, we have to look at it emotionally. What are they worried about? What keeps them up at night? That’s where we start.”
It’s a simple philosophy, but one that resonates deeply in practice. Many of the clients CIS works with don’t need long-term care insurance from a purely financial standpoint. Yet, as Hultquist points out, “that’s not the only lens through which we view planning.”
He continues, “Most of our clients could technically self-insure. But what we’re trying to help them see is the peace of mind and the behavioral benefits that come with knowing you’ve planned for this. That’s something math alone can’t measure.”
Teaching First, Selling Never
If there’s one word that echoes through every conversation with the CIS team, it’s education. Before any product discussion happens, before any numbers are run, the agency focuses on helping people understand why long-term care planning exists in the first place.
“We start with questions, not answers,” says Morehead. “What does long-term care mean to you? What experiences have shaped how you think about aging or caregiving? For most clients, it’s not an abstract concept. They’ve lived it through a parent or grandparent. Our job is to take those experiences and turn them into foresight.”
Her words reveal the subtle heartbeat of the agency’s culture: teaching. CIS doesn’t view itself as a vendor or intermediary; it sees itself as a guide. Its role is to help financial professionals and their clients talk about something that, while uncomfortable, defines how people experience security later in life.
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Clients often ask, ‘Will you still be here in 15 years when I need you?’. And the answer is yes, because we’ve planned for that. Just like we ask them to plan for their future, we’ve done the same for ours.
That mission also extends to educating financial advisors themselves. Many advisors, Morehead discovered early on, avoid long-term care conversations not because they don’t believe in their importance, but because they lack the technical depth to feel confident leading them. CIS fills that void. The team runs training sessions, provides case consultations, and offers joint-client meetings to help advisors navigate these topics with sensitivity and skill.
Balancing the Numbers with the Heart
Financial planning is a world obsessed with precision, with charts, projections, and percentage points. But the advisors at CIS know that real decisions rarely come down to numbers alone. “Clients don’t always make decisions because the math says so,” Morehead explains. “They make them because of peace of mind, or because they want to protect their family, or because they’ve seen firsthand what happens when someone doesn’t plan. That emotional side, the EQ side of the equation, is just as important as the IQ.”
It’s this balance of intellect and empathy that sets CIS apart. The agency’s team of ten professionals works in constant partnership with advisors and attorneys to ensure that each strategy is financially sound and emotionally appropriate. Every recommendation is vetted not only for efficiency but also for fit—for whether it feels right to the person it’s meant to protect.
Planning Beyond the Present
Long-term care planning is, by definition, a future-facing endeavor. But CIS applies the same foresight to itself. In an industry often criticized for short-term thinking, the agency has built its operations around sustainability and succession.
“Clients often ask, ‘Will you still be here in 15 years when I need you?’” Morehead says. “And the answer is yes, because we’ve planned for that. Just like we ask them to plan for their future, we’ve done the same for ours.”
The mindset of practicing what they preach has allowed CIS to build long-lasting relationships not just with clients but also with advisors and agencies who see them as an extension of their own teams. The collaboration model works because it’s anchored in trust, transparency, and an unshakable belief in doing what’s right for the client.
Perhaps the agency’s greatest strength lies in its perspective. CIS has guided thousands of families through the process of planning for long-term care, each with unique stories, circumstances, and emotions. This breadth of experience allows its advisors to speak not just from knowledge, but from empathy.
Most clients, after all, have not lived through their own long-term care journey. Their understanding often comes from watching parents or grandparents age—sometimes painfully, sometimes gracefully, but always with emotional weight. CIS helps them translate those memories into foresight, giving them the clarity to make decisions their future selves and families will thank them for.
Technology as a Tool, Not a Substitute
The financial services world is changing quickly, with artificial intelligence and automation redefining how professionals interact with clients. CIS welcomes the change, but carefully.
The agency uses tech-enabled tools to streamline processes, but never at the cost of the human connection that defines its work. In fact, by automating administrative tasks, CIS’s advisors gain more time to do what they do best: listen. Because ultimately, long-term care decisions are not made by algorithms; they’re made by people, often during the most vulnerable chapters of their lives.
This is a prime reason that, ten years in, Collaborative Insurance Solutions has become more than an agency. It’s a resource, a teacher, and for many, a reassuring voice in a complicated conversation.
Its work is not glamorous. There are no dramatic reveals or quick wins, but its impact is lasting. In homes and offices across the country, families rest easier knowing that, when the time comes, they have a plan in place. At CIS, that’s what success looks like: not a policy sold, but a family at peace.
For the agency, collaboration is not simply about working together. It’s about listening deeply, understanding fully, and crafting solutions that reflect the complete human experience. In doing so, the agency continues to redefine what it means to protect the future—not just financially, but emotionally, thoughtfully, and compassionately.
As Hultquist puts it, “At the end of the day, we’re helping people protect the lives they’ve built. That’s what this work is really about.”
Company : Collaborative Insurance Solutions (CIS)
ManagementAustin Hultquist, CLTC® & RICP®, Senior Insurance Strategist and Eryka Morehead, CAP®, CLTC®, RICP®, Founder & Chief Insurance Strategist
