Employee Benefits Masterclass:

Actionable Strategies & Insights Around Managing Pharmacy Costs, Compliance & Compensation

A Brown & Brown Event

Trends Impacting Pharmacy Benefits

  • How employers are rethinking GLP-1 eligibility, duration and affordability as costs continue to increase
  • What increased regulatory scrutiny means for PBM contracts, rebates spread pricing and “guaranteed savings”
  • How direct-to-consumer, specialty carve-outs and alternative pharmacy models are complicating plan administration
  • How employers are balancing Rx affordability, fairness and workforce expectations
  • Biosimilars: Discover how biosimilars are reshaping pharmacy benefits and creating new opportunities for significant cost savings
  • Why a growing share of pharmacy spend is coming from fewer members—and why traditional cost-management approaches fall short

Compliance Risks in 2026: Uncertainty, Litigation Risks and AI

  • The uncertainty in the regulations related to group health plans due to the current political environment and court decisions
  • The litigation risks that employers/plan sponsors may face, now and into the future
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the administration of health claims data and appeals processes in group health plans

Compensation as a Performance Engine: Designing People Investment Programs that Drive Business Results

  • Designing for the talent you want, not the “average employee,” and aligning rewards with the behaviors, skills and values you aim to attract and retain
  • Compensation Strategy vs. Execution: Turning vision into operational reality
  • Meeting modern employee expectations around transparency, fairness and trust in pay practices
  • Empowering leaders with a data‑driven decision framework to guide merit, promotion and market adjustment decisions

When

Wednesday, February 18th, 2026

12:00 – 1:00 PM | Registration
1:00 – 3:30 PM | Seminar

Where

San Antonio Country Club

4100 N New Braunfels Ave, San Antonio, TX 78209

Sarah van Vuuren
Pharmacy Relations Strategist

Sarah’s role as a Strategist for the National Pharmacy Team enables her to support Brown & Brown offices by serving as their pharmacy consulting specialist.

This support includes but is not limited to; conducting Pharmacy Benefit Education internally and externally, lead discussions related to current pharmacy benefit market dynamics, trends and the overall PBM landscape.

Additionally, the Strategist is available to support RFP activity, attend client meetings as needed, review pharmacy programs and have extensive knowledge of PBM’s to provide guidance on the best fit for client opportunities.

Christopher Bao
Vice President, ​Regulatory and Legislative Strategy

With over ten years of regulatory and legislative strategyexperience, Christopher Bao serves as the Vice President –Regulatory and Legislative Strategy in the Employee Benefitsdivision of Brown & Brown. In his role, Christopher isresponsible for researching, analyzing, presenting and advisingparties on strategies and best practices for group health plans.He also supports internal colleagues and Brown & Browncustomers by reviewing and analyzing both federal and statelaws that govern Employee Health and Welfare Benefit plans.These areas include HIPAA, the Affordable Care Act, ERISAand COBRA.​

Christopher has experience in employee health and welfarebenefits and seven years of litigation experience. Prior to joiningBrown & Brown, he worked at a large international insurancebrokerage firm in the areas of compliance and Employee Healthand Welfare Benefits. Prior to that role, Christopher worked as alitigator in private practice. He joined Brown & Brown in Augustof 2022. 

Hannah Hargrave
Compensation Consultant, Practice Leader at herronpalmer

Hannah Hargrave is a seasoned leader in compensation strategy, specializing in salary structure design, job architecture, incentive plan development, comprehensive analytics, and pay transparency initiatives. With a strong professional and academic foundation, she brings a unique, evidence-based approach to her work, blending analytical rigor with practical solutions. 

She emphasizes the importance of leveraging credible data to inform decision-making while recognizing that data alone is not enough—effective change management and thoughtful communication are critical for success. 

Hannah excels at delivering tailored solutions, creating compensation programs that align seamlessly with each organization’s broader people strategy. Her passion lies in designing innovative systems that drive engagement, equity, and long-term organizational success. 

Shelby Hafner
PharmD

Shelby Hafner, PharmD, is a Clinical Strategy Pharmacist at SmithRx, where she focuses on developing and offering innovative clinical solutions to lower drug costs for clients and members. She is dedicated to implementing cost-effective strategies that manage drug spend while improving patient access and affordability. Shelby completed a PGY1 Managed Care Pharmacy Residency with Magellan Rx Management and Yale Health and earned her Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Colorado Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.