Employee Benefits Whiteboard Event:

Navigating Rising Rx and Health Plan Costs & How to Develop a Long-Term Benefits Strategy

EARN 2.0 SHRM, HRCI & CPE CREDITS

Are Your Health Plans Driving Up Costs or Attracting Top Talent?

This fast-paced, interactive session is built to challenge how HR teams think about employer-sponsored health plans. Whether you’re fully insured or self-funded, too many employers are making decisions that benefit insurers more than their own teams—and they often don’t even realize it.
If you’re wondering whether your benefits are helping you attract top talent or pushing them away, this session will help you find out—and start fixing it.
What you’ll learn:
  • Why common health plan solutions often backfire – driving up costs for both employers and employees
  • How to design benefits that deliver more value while controlling medical and Rx spend
  • The hidden challenges in managing health plans – and how to overcome them
  • Are your health plans a magnet for top talent or driving them away?

State of Pharmacy Benefits & Common Employer Missteps

The pharmacy landscape is shifting rapidly—and employers are feeling the pressure. From skyrocketing drug prices to the rollout of game-changing treatments like GLP-1s, benefits leaders must find ways to balance innovation with affordability. This session offers a timely look at the current state of pharmacy benefits, with a focus on high-cost drugs, biosimilars, and the growing role of specialty and generic medications.
What you’ll learn:
  • Practical strategies to optimize your pharmacy benefit design
  • The role of PBMs, their influence on drug costs, rebates, transparency and what to consider when evaluating
  • Ways to help employees access the medications they need without breaking the bank

Earn 2.0 SHRM, HRCI and CPE Credits

When

Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025

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

Where

Quail Creek Golf & Country Club

3501 Quail Creek Road, Oklahoma City, OK 73120

Josh Rydberg, VP Underwriting Services at Brown & Brown

As Vice President of Underwriting Services, Josh’s primary role is to design and implement financial management strategies for clients across the country. He also develops, maintains and delivers financial tools and methodologies that assist in the effective management of employer-sponsored health plans.

Josh routinely provides internal and external education regarding unique opportunities for groups to improve health plan structure. By leveraging a distinctive presentation style, he illustrates the impact of pricing and consumer purchasing behavior on both employers and members. This simplification of complex theories creates actionable results that are often contrary to current trends.

A broad insurance background – which includes pricing for workers’ compensation, automobile, homeowners and various other property and casualty coverages in addition to group benefits – allows Josh an objective perspective when devising and communicating winning medical plan strategies. It also provides him the ability to engage with clients that are interested in evaluating enterprise risk and cost.

Karyn Klemer, Pharmacist at Brown & Brown

Karyn has 30 years' experience in the medical/insurance fields. Her experience started clinically, as a Paramedic with EMS services and in hospital and medical office settings.

She then moved to the insurance side of health care, working for a Provider Network in Colorado. Karyn learned insurance from the ground up. Starting as a claim processor, then moving to customer service specialist, to trainer, and then account manager.

Karyn then joined the UHG organization. Beginning as an Account Executive for medical and ancillary benefits, then as an Account Executive for the PBM OptumRx. Karyn was then promoted to Director of Client Management for OptumRx.

From there, Karyn was promoted to the Consultant Partnerships Team where she supported 7 Consultant Firms.

Karyn joined Brown & Brown January 2025.