Benefits industry newsmakers: Voluntary Disruption, Healthjoy, NAPA

It’s been a busy spring for these organizations and benefits industry professionals. Here’s a sample of what’s been going on:

Voluntary Disruption is the new name of the independent enhanced benefits firm formerly known as Silverman Benefits Group. It will remain a full-service brokers’ broker. The new company name is designed to emphasize the critical need to change how people perceive voluntary benefits. “The goal of our business rebrand is to challenge our broker partners to change their vocabulary to close more deals and earn more revenue for their agency,” said founder and owner Eric Silverman, and that calling them “enhanced benefits” speaks to their true value in rounding out an employer’s overall employee benefits package.  See Voluntary Disruption’s site.

Piedmont Payment Services recently announced its founder and CEO, Tim Johnson acquired the company, which is a pre-funded bill payer. As part of the acquisition, a long-time advocate of the business, Tripp Amos, has purchased an equity interest in the company. Amos has been in the voluntary/worksite business for over 25 years and currently serves as a Market Director for Aflac. Amos will not be involved in daily operations, though he will serve as Chairman of the Board. Founded in 2008, Piedmont collects premiums and pays invoices to voluntary carriers on behalf of policyholders working for employers who cannot, or will not, payroll deduct. Learn more at the Piedmont Payment Services site.

HealthJoy, an employee benefits and health care guidance platform, announced that Brad Aaron has been named Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the company. Aaron is a senior operations and technology executive with 20 years of experience in the technology, health care, and SaaS space. Previously, he served as the COO of MethodCare and during his tenure there, the company experienced a seven-fold increase in employees and a twenty-five fold increase in revenue. In 2009, Aaron worked for Allscripts Healthcare Solutions where he managed Allscripts’ $1.3B acquisition of Eclipsys, Inc., which doubled the size of Allscripts to over 5,000 employees and revenue to more than $700MM. See the Healthjoy site.

Vida Health, a digital therapeutic platform that helps employees overcome chronic physical and behavioral health conditions, announced the hire of Randy Forman, formerly of Livongo Health, as Chief Commercial Officer. He will oversee employer sales, sales operations, and channel and platform partnerships. Forman joins Vida after spending most of his career with digital health companies looking to bend the cost curve in the health care system, while also reshaping the consumer experience. He served as the Head of Strategic Accounts for Livongo Health. To learn more, visit Vida Health’s site.

Q4intelligence, LLC added David Contorno to its coaching and advising team as it expands expertise in creative group health insurance and employee benefit strategies. Contorno, a longtime member of the Q4iNetwork, has established expertise both with clients nationwide and within the industry as a leader and educator of innovative health care programs that benefit both the employer making the purchasing decisions and the employees as users of the health care system. Contorno will continue in his role as a partner and sales leader at Lake Norman Benefits, a member of the Hilb Group, helping employers in his own practice. Using this day-to- day expertise, he will help members of the Q4iNetwork develop similar programs for their clients. To learn more, see the Q4intelligence site.

The National Association of Plan Advisors welcomed Jeffery Acheson, CPFA, as its 2018-2019 President at the opening session of the 2018 NAPA 401(k) SUMMIT. Acheson has nearly 40 years of experience with advising and educating clients, providing industry leadership and building trusted relationships. He founded Powell, Ohio-based Advanced Strategies Group, LLC in April 2017, where he delivers a fiduciary-based business model focusing on high-income individuals, high-net-worth families, successful companies, mid-size retirement plan sponsors and charitable organizations.

Other changes on the NAPA Leadership Council (LC) for 2018-2019 include the following:

Previous Vice President, Jania Stout, Co-Founder, Fiduciary Plan Advisors at HighTower in Baltimore, MD, becomes this year’s President-Elect; Pat Wenzel, Managing Director–Wealth Management, Merrill Lynch, Houston, TX, replaces Stout as Vice President; Corby Dall, Barbara Delaney and Charlie Snyder join the NAPA Leadership Council as at-large members, replacing Wenzel, Jamie Greenleaf and Michael Perry; and Jon Anderson joins the LC as a Firm Partner representative, replacing Ken Pardue. Learn more about NAPA at its site.