By Dan Cook | Photography by Kevin Garrett
Growing up, Brian Uhlig watched his parents navigate the volatile and sometimes treacherous combination of shifting income and economic instability. But their ability to remain positive and entrepreneurial throughout meant they came out the other side with pride and family intact.
Uhlig, senior partner of employee benefits at Alera Group, has early memories of piling into the car to pick up his CPA dad from the train station. But in the early 80s, Dad’s position was eliminated because of a merger. His mother, a school teacher, wasn’t working at the time in order to be at home with him and his brother.
“Suddenly we went from a pretty stable middle class family to both parents needing to create new careers in their early 40s.”
They eventually found those careers in the world of finance. Uhlig’s mom became a financial planner, while his dad became a financial executive for schools and municipalities. This tumultuous period solidified a driving force in Uhlig’s life: Despite trying times, Uhlig’s family turned their own tide.
He watched as his mom built her business educating people about finances. Several times a month, she met clients at the local public library or had them come to the house to review their financial plan.
“Of course, I didn’t recognize the lessons she was modeling until I was much older,” he says. But the information had been delivered; it was just a matter of time before he put it to use.
After graduating with a degree in accounting from the University of Iowa, he got a job in banking, where he spent a year before moving into mortgage lending.
After a time, he thought he might join his mom’s small practice. Instead, she encouraged him to join a larger firm that could train him. After answering an ad in the Wall Street Journal, Uhlig joined The Greater Chicago Group (later known as GCG Financial) as an individual life insurance and wealth management producer.
It took 18 months to realize individual life sales weren’t for him. He tried to resign, but the owners of the firm encouraged him to instead pursue an opening in their employee benefits division.
There weren’t a lot of other options for him financially, and rent was due. So he accepted an opportunity that proved to be a perfect fit.
During his first years, he worked on thousands of renewals and hundreds of new business presentations, learning from carrier representatives about plans and networks. His accounting and financial planning background paid off, as he helped clients sort through renewals and plan design opportunities. Uhlig also got his first taste of self-funded plans, opening his eyes to both the complexity of the business and the importance of knowing how to interpret data.
Next steps
After several years, Uhlig’s life reached a turning point when he left the company to run the benefits practice of a Chicago-based property and casualty firm.
“I was exposed to larger clients and partners,” he says. “But just because a firm was larger, didn’t mean they were more sophisticated or thoughtful. The consulting team was often far more impactful to success than the firm itself.”
Uhlig began reading everything he could about the health care system. This education led him to get his CORA Pro certification, before being accepted into the first group of 30 advisors at Health Rosetta.
Uhlig ultimately left the property/casualty firm and returned to GCG—but in a very different position.
“I came back to GCG in a leadership role focused on improving our key accounts client deliverables,” he says. “That’s when I came up with a thought process of trying to build out a specialized team within the firm."
It worked, and his team has grown into a diverse group with unique skill sets focusing on disruptive approaches to challenge the health care status quo. It’s what sets Uhlig apart.
In 2017, GCG Financial, along with 23 like-minded firms across the nation, came together to create Alera Group. These founding offices worked together to leverage relationships, industry expertise and resources with the goal of elevating the client experience. Uhlig took full advantage of the expanded capabilities to collaborate with colleagues nationally and bring his clients more innovative and forward-thinking solutions. “It’s no longer just about my clients. It’s about having a positive impact on all of their employees.”
Keith Kranzow is the Chief Operating Officer of Atlas Aerospace in Wichita, Kansas. He says his partnership with Uhlig has created economic opportunities and strengthened the relationships he has with both his employees and clients.
“I liked his approach from the start,” says Kranzow. “He was very collaborative and understood that we already had a broker. It was not until a year later that we invited him to our RFP process. He has been our consultant ever since. He earns the business every year.”
Uhlig opened Kransow’s eyes to the possibilities of what a benefits package can look like in the hands of a progressive broker.
“Brian constantly brings innovative solutions to our challenges.”
Those solutions include the Surgery Center of Oklahoma, Surgery Plus, Pareto, and a new relationship with Transparent RX.
“He brings data, analytics and listens to his clients; that’s what makes him different. Trust, listening and innovation have helped Brian and his team save us nearly $2 million over the years.”
Uhlig partners with Catalyst for Payment Reform, the Validation Institute and Health Rosetta to refine his practice.
“He is thoughtful about not implementing too much change at once. He always tries to find the best fit.”
What began as a career focused on sales became devotion to ensuring employees and their families get the care they need at the lowest possible cost.
This was driven home a few years ago, during an open enrollment meeting at a client’s plant in Tennessee.
“At the end of the meeting an employee approached me and mentioned that the ‘affordable’ plan we provided was going to cost them over 10% of their annual family gross income.
“They were appreciative of us coming out to meet them, but clearly they were scared about how they would make a plan like this work for their budget.”
That ultimately led to Uhlig’s Minus 30 Healthcare concept: to help clients keep their costs 30% below standard trend over a five-year period while improving the care quality and experience.
“I realized I was regurgitating the latest shiny object being sold by the carriers. We just made sure our clients were better than the average and our fees were fair, but that’s about it.”
These days, “average” no longer cuts it. “He is always trying to beat trend,” says Joan Settineri Kopinski, Senior VP at Alera. “But he is always thoughtful about not implementing too much change at once. He recognizes not every solution works for every client; he always tries to find the best fit.”