James “Jim” Blachek

Blachek embraces a fundamental mission and passion of an employee centric approach to managing the cost of healthcare. All strategies and tools are focused on assisting an employee to have greater access to higher quality healthcare all while driving down employer and employee cost. No tool or strategy will be successful without proper employee engagement and education. They are the key to driving down cost. Blachek has published numerous articles on this topic.

Blachek, along with co-founder Jeff Haudenschield, is a proud member and advisor of NextGen Benefits Mastermind Partners, a national partnership of like minded advisers who are determined to change the face of healthcare and “Break the Status Quo” to take control of their cost of healthcare.

Tom Dorywalski

Tom is the Vice President of Business Development for Taylor Insurance Services where he leads the firm’s efforts in the health and wellness space.  Tom received his Bachelor’s degree in Business from Florida International University in Miami. He as advised dozens of Professional Associations in the launch of association-based health plans and is a frequent speaker on the topic.

Nelson L. Griswold

One of the premier thought leaders in the benefits industry, Nelson also is the author of the industry bestseller, DO or DIE: Reinventing Your Benefits Agency for Post-Reform Success, a blueprint for agency leaders to re-engineer their firm to align their interests to match their clients’ interests, bring innovative business solutions, and drive actual results. A respected consultant to employee benefits firms across the country, his clients include Aon Hewitt, HUB, and top independent agencies.

He is a leading strategic consultant on employee engagement and next-generation enrollment strategies to insurance companies including Aetna, Trustmark, Aflac, Humana, Allstate, Principal Financial, Anthem, RBC Insurance of Canada, and Assurant. He also advises a number of companies using technology and other innovative strategies to change and improve the benefits landscape.

John Harris

John Harris is the CEO and co-founder of CU Benefits Alliance. John is a performance-driven leader with cross-functional expertise in insurance, marketing, strategic planning, operations, data analytics, business development and agency management. He is a leading authority on credit union healthcare coalitions and collaborations.

CU Benefits Alliance is an employee benefits consulting firm whose mission is to help credit unions build their own Next-Gen Benefits Architecture. CU Benefits has been recognized by the National Association of Credit Union Service Organizations (NACUSO) as its Credit Union Service Organization of the Year, for excellence and innovation in use of the collaborative model to help credit unions better manage employee benefits.

Jeff Haudenschield

Jeff Haudenschield has been a healthcare consultant for more than twenty years. He is co-owner of The Benefits Group, where he provides guidance and expert advice to employer groups on how to offer the best benefits to their employees. His primary concentration is with groups of more than 50 employees and he particularly enjoys helping his clients uncover innovative ways to reduce their healthcare spending, while improving the benefit experience for the group, overall.

Marcy S. Heath

With a consultative approach and implementing innovative solutions, Marcy is successful with assisting employers in slashing their medical spend.  Our most recent client saved $195,000 annually by implementing cost containment strategies provided by Inoventive Solutions.

An established industry thought leader and certified health care reform specialist, Marcy has been a featured speaker on several different platforms, providing valuable insight into ACA law, rules guidelines and compliance within the law.

Beth Johnson

Beth Johnson is an employee benefits adviser and President of Mitchell Insurance Inc. As a healthcare strategist and consultant for nearly 25 years, Beth has a demonstrated history of reducing employer healthcare spend by creating partnerships between employers and local healthcare systems to bring about real change in how employees view and utilize their health plan. She has proven track record working with a variety of industries of eliminating barriers to care so employees receive the right care, at the right time, in the right place for the right price.

Deke Lape

Deke Lape is an employee benefits consultant with Mitchell Insurance, Inc. and also serves as the secretary/treasurer of the corporation.  Deke has 20 years of experience in the employee benefits insurance and counseling/brokerage field.  He has worked with employers of many industries, including manufacturing, not-for-profits, municipalities, education, and healthcare.  He has extensive experience in both fully-insured and self-funded medical plan arrangements, consumer-driven plans, and worksite and ancillary benefits.

Keith McNeil

He is a co-founder of Enwisen, the first web-based employee benefits communication and knowledgebase in the industry; it primarily targeted Fortune 500 companies with a diverse and prestigious client base that included Microsoft, ConAgra, Twentieth Century Fox, and Nissan. (It is now owned by Infor.) He created the Enwisen employee benefits knowledgebase that as early as 1995 provided a web-based communication platform to not only explain at a deep-dive level common medical, dental, and vision plans, but also other sophisticated benefit programs, including 401(k) plans, defined contribution plans, ESOPs, and long term care plans. That program was voted one of the Top Ten new HR programs by Human Resource Executive magazine in 1998.

Erik Nagengast

Erik began his benefits career at Lifestyle Benefits when he was still in college. While there he learned from his father the most important part of a successful business is superior service. In 2012 he opened Solutions N Sync to provide benefits, HR, and technology strategies to small and mid-sized businesses. After many successful years of growth he returned to Lifestyle Benefits and took on the additional role of Vice President.

Lifestyle Benefits is a leader in the Enhanced Benefits industry. Providing a quality service experience to both employees and employers is at the core of its philosophy. It specializes in groups that include government, manufacturing, hospital systems, education, and labor unions. Many of these large organizations have been clients for over 20 years with 10,000+ claims processed in-office.

Robert Slayton

Robert has been in the industry for over 15 years and specializes in helping employers manage the healthcare supply chain to create superior employee outcomes while freeing up money to be used to expand an organization’s mission.

He is an expert on health insurance and has been quoted in trade magazines and the popular press (such as Crains, Chicago Tribune, US News & World Report, MSNBC.com, FoxNews, The Washington Examiner, and Yahoo Hotjobs).

As a next generation benefits adviser, Robert has the privilege of helping employers achieve those game-changing results and break through the status quo of just accepting increasing healthcare costs year after year.

Trey Taylor

Trey is the Chief Executive Officer of Taylor Insurance Services. Trey holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from Emory University in Atlanta, a Juris Doctor degree in Tax and Corporate Transactions from Tulane University and has done post-graduate work at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the Author of five books including A CEO Only Does 3 Things and NextGeneration Healthcare.

Brian Tschetter

Brian has always been driven to find a better way to do things to improve the results.  “It’s always been done that way” is a red flag of neglect.  The status quo of healthcare and the benefits business is overdue to be challenged.  There are many new strategies and tactics employers can take to improve employee benefits while reducing cost.

Chris Wolpert

Chris has over ten years of experience in the insurance industry and is the founder of Group Benefit Solutions (GBS).  Based in Tacoma, GBS is an employee benefits consulting firm that specializes in helping employers streamline human capital processes with innovative technology solutions, enhance employee engagement with a personalized open enrollment, and create a sustainable healthcare strategy by combining expert specialists with measurable results.