Gallagher Broker Wes Grigston Recognized as a 2019 Employee Benefits Power Broker
Wes Grigston, Area Vice President, Gallagher
Wake Forest, North Carolina wanted to save taxpayer dollars on its health care spend by self-insuring, but it didn’t have a reserve fund set aside.
“Wes offered a solution,” said HR director Virginia Jones. Gallagher had set up public entity health care risk pools in Illinois, and Wes Grigson’s team researched and presented information to government entities across North Carolina to pattern a similar risk pool.
“Our commissioners were enthusiastic, but other municipalities were more risk averse,” said Jones. “Wes sent some Illinois folks to our meetings to explain their programs and help us set up.”
The pool started up July 1, 2018, and it has delivered savings so far, Jones said.
Orange County wanted to protect against future health care cost increases of 15 to 20 percent, so Grigston explored joining the same North Carolina health insurance pool, said Brenda Bartholomew, human resources director.
Grigston wrangled multiple issues, said Bartholomew: “Legal and contractual, bringing in Blue Cross as administrator, the third party stop loss, the system compatibility and enrollment issues, voluntary benefits — it was heroic.”
The City of Rock Hill is also self-insured, and it had two goals: Achieving the healthiest workforce possible and saving taxpayer dollars, said Lori Thomas, performance manager. Grigston, she said, immersed himself with the city and vendors to transform its onsite clinic.
2019 Employee Benefits Power Broker Winners and Finalists
A Risk & Insurance Power Broker® is an individual who stands out among their peers for the exceptional client work they delivered over the past year. While brokers play many key roles in the insurance industry and risk profession, a Power Broker® award recognizes problem solving, customer service and industry knowledge.
Our goal is to broadly recognize and promote outstanding risk management and customer service among the brokerage community.
Who selects the winners?
Power Brokers are selected by Risk Managers based on the strength of the testimonials they provide to a team of 15 Risk & Insurance editors and writers.