Bio

A disruptive and controversial visionary, author, and in-demand keynote speaker, Nelson Griswold is Founder & Chairman of the NextGen Benefits Network, a national alliance of independent health care advisory & consulting firms. He also is Founder & Chairman of the C-Suite Network’s Employer Health Care Council, an organization that brings together and supports progressive executives who have taken or desire to take control over the quality and cost of their health care spend.

Recently named “Most Influential Industry Organization” in an industry-wide vote, the NextGen Benefits Network is revolutionizing employee benefits and health care delivery. It empowers executives to both improve the quality of care for employees and make health care a controllable cost for both employees and the company. NextGen Benefits moves a company to a “first-party payer” model with health care providers and manages the company’s health care supply chain. It’s success and strategies have been featured in prominent business publications including Chief Executive, Employee Benefit News, and CFO.

An authority and popular speaker on private-sector health care reform, Nelson has addressed audiences in 44 states and the District of Columbia and has keynoted numerous conferences.

The author of DO or DIE, a 2012 trade bestseller for leaders of employee benefits firms, he is lead author of four Amazon #1 bestsellers on health care reform:

• BREAKING THROUGH THE STATUS QUO: How Innovative Companies Are Changing the Benefits Game to Help Their Employees and Boost Their Bottom Line (2017);
• NEXTGENERATION HEALTHCARE: Proven Secrets of Managing the Healthcare Value Chain to Improve Outcomes and Reduce Costs (2018);
• LIFE & DEATH DECISIONS IN THE C-SUITE: How the U.S. Insurance System Puts Your Employees’ Lives and Health at Serious Risk…and How You Can Fix It (2022); and
• FIXING AMERICAN HEALTHCARE: Restoring Trust in the U.S. Healthcare System for Patients, Physicians & Payers (2023).

CEO Today magazine named Nelson a 2022 Healthcare Awards Finalist. He also was named a Finalist for the 2018 Health Value Awards – Outstanding Consultant Leadership at the World Health Care Congress and was honored with the prestigious Industry Leadership Award by the Voluntary Benefits Association. For almost 10 years, he wrote a monthly column for Employee Benefit Adviser magazine, currently writes a regular column for Employee Benefit News, and writes for other publications including BenefitsPRO and Entrepreneur.

The Founder & Chairman of ASCEND, the national conference for progressive health care advisers and health plan innovation, Nelson also chairs the Benefits Adviser Leadership Track for the World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C. A Past President of both the Workplace Benefits Association and the Voluntary Benefits Association, he serves on the Advisory Board of the Validation Institute and Ameriflex.

Before his career in benefits and health care, Nelson had a distinguished career as a nationally recognized public policy expert, serving as president of two public policy think tanks promoting a free-market and limited-government agenda. Nelson also has worked in radio, as host of both a morning drive talk show and a popular jazz music program.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee, he and his wife, Elizabeth, live in Nashville and have two grown children and a beautiful baby granddaughter.