\u201cMy husband and I, we had to have full-time jobs, as well as running a small business, to have health insurance,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Last week, though, she said her husband considered retiring in order to run Que Retro full time.<\/p>\n
That was because of an event she, along with a handful of other San Antonio small business owners, attended. Nonprofit CollectiveX<\/a>, also known as the Texas Economic Xchange, held its first info session where it asked Texas small businesses to come together and collectively buy products and services to lower their costs and increase their negotiating power.<\/p>\n McClinchie is already signed up.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore, health insurance was really not an opportunity. The fact that we now have accessibility for affordable health insurance is amazing,\u201d McClinchie said. \u201cI don\u2019t know why this has never happened before.\u201d<\/p>\n Julissa Carielo, the nonprofit\u2019s cofounder and a San Antonio small business owner, said CollectiveX can access prices and rates that individual small businesses would never be able to. \u201cBecause we don\u2019t buy in big quantities, it\u2019s so expensive,\u201d Carielo said. \u201cWe go through the normal, every day buying of the things we need and it costs us a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n Carielo said she wanted to start with health insurance because it\u2019s such a pressing need. <\/p>\n Last year, she only had one health insurance carrier offer to work with her contracting and construction development company, the DreamOn Group<\/a>. Insurance costs for the 35-employee, Westside-based business would have increased 140%, she said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can\u2019t offer [workers] benefits, we lose them. We always lose them to bigger corporations with better benefits. We need to level the playing field,\u201d Carielo said. \u201cI know I\u2019m not the only one going through this.\u201d<\/p>\n On Thursday, Carielo told other small business owners that her annual costs could shrink from $750 per worker to $329 per worker. <\/p>\n The benefits offered would also improve with lower deductibles and healthcare coverage available across the country, not just limited to a few San Antonio-area hospitals or clinics. Vision, dental, disability and life insurance could also be available.<\/p>\n Those prices are projections, not guarantees. To get the best deal from insurers, Carielo said, CollectiveX needs to sign up 1,000 members by Oct. 1. Those who join after that deadline would have a delay before activating benefits and that would not help leverage lower rates. The nonprofit is open to employers across the state and has no restrictions on who might join.<\/p>\n Carielo said 358 members had signed up as of Sept. 3.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there\u2019s a large business that wants to join us and leverage their buying power \u2026 they can participate,\u201d Carielo said. \u201cEven if they\u2019re a business of one employee, they can join.\u201d<\/p>\n Interested employers can sign up online<\/a> at CollectiveX\u2019s website.<\/p>\n Allison De Paoli, who runs Altiqe<\/a>, a San Antonio-based health insurance consultancy, said she sees this challenge regularly for businesses with less than 50 workers.<\/p>\n \u201cSmall employers, particularly in that 15-20 employee space, they get the worst of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Those insurance plans have less employees and smaller risk pools. One medical event for one employee can eat into a greater portion of that employers\u2019 money.<\/p>\n \u201cFor each employee, there are only so many dollars available,\u201d De Paoli said.<\/p>\n Texas state law allows for healthcare cooperatives<\/a> and has done so in some form since 1993. There are at least 36 registered across the state.<\/p>\n Carielo aims to increase her number of employees. \u201cIf I could secure $300,000 in savings in healthcare benefits, I would hire six more people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n![\"Rene](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ScottBall_scobey-building-via-dreamon-dream-on-group-julissa-carielo-rene-garcia-development-westsid.jpeg\")
Rene Garcia and Julissa Carielo, partners at DreamOn Group stand in front of one of their next big projects, the Scobey Storage Complex, a mixed-use housing project with close access to transit. Credit: Scott Ball \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_8036.jpeg\")
Small business owners and workers gather for an info session for CollectiveX at Plaza de Sue\u00f1os on South Laredo Street on Sept. 3, 2026. Credit: Jasper Kenzo Sundeen \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n