JR Katz

Stuart Pockross, CLU

Stuart has been assisting companies to control their benefit costs for over 35 years. With an increasing focus on healthcare cost management, Stuart has provided expertise, insight and negotiating savvy to help companies to "decrease the increase" of rising healthcare costs. By systematically establishing priorities, reviewing claims data, analyzing contracts and reviewing the marketplace for appropriate providers, he has become clients' advocate in designing, implementing and monitoring healthcare programs which achieve the appropriate balance between cost-effectiveness and employee satisfaction. Stuart has co-developed a number of proprietary analytical tools to assist companies with assessing healthcare contractual provisions and benefit designs, as well as evaluating managed care and wellness options.

After starting his business career as a tax accountant for Continental Illinois Bank, Stuart began specializing in group benefits in 1970 and joined JR Katz in 1988. During his career he has owned and operated two third party administration companies, with an emphasis in claims adjudication and self-insurance. Stuart has developed an expertise assisting companies which have "non-vanilla" benefit designs, multiple locations, and contractual complexities, with these companies often having between 500 and 10,000 employees.

Stuart has been a featured speaker on healthcare cost control and has authored a number of articles on self-insurance, including Watch Out for the "Gotcha's": A Thorough Examination of Self-Insurance, Choosing an Administrator: Tips for Busy Benefit Managers on Judging TPAs, and What to Evaluate when Analyzing a Stop-Loss/Re-Insurance Contract. In addition, Stuart has authored or co-authored a number of white papers, including Benefit Planning: A Discussion on How to Control Cost, an examination of the Benefit Planning Process and Self-funding, and Benefits Planning into the 21st Century. Stuart has a B.A. degree from Southern Illinois University and a Chartered Life Underwriter designation from the American College.

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