Founder and Managing PrincipalCarl Schuessler Jr., DHP, DIA, GBDS
We are an intentionally small “concierge” consulting firm offering a unique approach to benefits management for a select group of clients. We have chosen collaboration over competition and maintain healthy relationships with a cadre’ of like-minded consultants and resources throughout the United States.
Being open to and encouraging the ideas of others allows us to remain on the cutting edge of thinking in our area of expertise, rather than developing the myopic view of the world that so often occurs in single-source benefit brokerage shops.
Carl Schuessler is the Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Mitigate Partners, a Risk Management, Cost Containment and Employee Benefits Consulting firm established in 2015. Mitigate Partners is a partnership of 29 employee benefit consulting and brokerage firms that allows local management within a collaborative environment with more than 150 years of combined experience.
With more than 30 years of experience in benefits consulting and financial services, Carl pioneered the fiduciary approach to benefits advisory services. His interest in treating the employer’s money like his own led Carl through seven years of research culminating in the development of his proprietary FairCo$t Health Plan, an innovative plan design seamlessly integrated with a High-Performance Healthcare Solutions platform that provides best-in-class benefits at substantially lower costs while improving clinical and financial outcomes for health plans and their members.
During this 7-year journey searching for the best-in-class High-Performance Healthcare Solutions to address the runaway costs for his clients’ health plan spend, Carl was selected in 2017 as one of the founding first group of 30 forward-leaning Benefits Advisors in the U.S. to participate as a Charter Member in the Health Rosetta Certification Program for Benefits Advisors. The Health Rosetta is a blueprint of best practices for intelligently purchasing health benefits that have been sourced from the most forward-leaning benefits purchasers of all types around the country.
Carl’s work as a consultant has been nationally recognized as he is a highly accomplished speaker and author who leads Mitigate Partners to be the localized, EMPLOYER-BUILT healthcare benefits provider who is challenging Wall Street (insurer-built) health plans to convert to Main Street (EMPLOYER-BUILT) health plans. This means removing misaligned incentives, directing care based on quality and cost, and ultimately, helping courageous employers fix their plan resulting in 15%-30% in savings.
To the delight of his clients, he has a proven track record of bringing comprehensive High-Performance Healthcare Solutions to businesses regarding healthcare costs, benefit design, improved medical outcomes, and improved employee communications. Carl is an employer advocate and provides easily understood solutions and encouragement to employers.
Carl is a native of Macon, Georgia, moved to Atlanta in 1989, and resides there with his wife, Missy, and their three children, Mary May (23), Carl III (21), and Hattie (18). He enjoys coaching (coached 43 of his children’s teams), fly fishing, golfing, hiking, hunting, and following his Georgia Bulldogs.
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CV AND AWARDSCarl up close
- Work experience
- Education and Background
- Awards & Honours
- Speaking Engagements/Appearances
Carl’s work as a consultant has been nationally recognized as he is a highly accomplished speaker and author who is engaged in the pursuit of EMPLOYER-BUILT Healthcare to replace the archaic Insurer-Built Healthcare system that has ceased to meet the needs of employers and their employees
- 1988-2002
Northwestern Mutual Strategic Employee Benefit Services
- 2002-Present
Founding Partner / Managing Principal in BenefitStrategies, LLC.
- 2006-2008
Lockton Companies – Vice President / Producer Partner
- 2015-Present
Founding Partner/ Managing Principal in Mitigate Partners, LLC.
Charter Member of Certified Benefits Advisor Program
The Health Rosetta Institute
DHP – Disability Healthcare Professional
Center for Insurance Education and Professional Development/AHIP
DIA – Disability Income Associate
Center for Insurance Education and Professional Development/AHIP
GBDS – Group Benefits Disability Specialist
The Hartford Vault Program/The National Underwriter Company
B.B.A. – Risk Management, Insurance and Estate Management
University of Georgia
- 2010: Northside Youth OrganizationPositive Coaching Alliance (PCA) Coach of the Year
- 2018: Recognized as “The Top Social Media Benefit Advisers” by EmployeeBenefit Adviser
A founding Health Rosetta Charter Certified Advisor, Carl’s work as a consultant has been nationally recognized as he is a highly accomplished speaker and author who is engaged in the pursuit of EMPLOYER-Built Healthcare to replace the archaic Insurer-Built Healthcare system that has ceased to meet the needs of employers and their employees.
- He most recently was in an article in Influencive on March 11, 2021.
- He has participated as a speaker/contributor at national healthcare conferences such as Free Market Medical Association, Florida Rural Health Association(FRHA) Summer Educ. Series: The DeSoto Memorial Hospital Case Study, Florida HB961 Prescription Drug Cost Reduction Act Press Conference 12/17/19, Texas Public Policy Foundation’s 18th Annual 2020 Policy Orientation for the Texas Legislature, South Carolina Business Coalition on Health, The World Health Care Congress in Washington D.C., The OrthoForum 2020 Annual Conference, 2019 and 2020 Florida Association of Accountable Care Organizations Annual Conference, ACO Direct Contracting Symposium, National Association of Health Underwriters Annual Conference
He has also participated as an author/contributor appearing in many podcasts and several books:
- Magic, Pixie Dust, and Miracles: A Guide for Direct Primary Care And Employers
- Relocalizing Health: The Future of Health Care is Local, Open, and Independent
- The CEO’s Guide to Restoring the American Dream: How to Deliver World-Class Health Care to Your Employees at Half the Cost
- Never Pay the First Bill: And Other Ways to Fight the Health Care System and Win
- Pharmacists United for Truth and Transparency (PUTT) Podcast – Re-Localizing Care Keeping Rx Dollars on Main Street, not Wall Street PUTTcast on 1-27-21
- Healthcare Americana #62 – Carl Schuessler: Embracing Direct Care Benefits
- The Paradigm Shift of Healthcare Podcast – Episode 46: Patients Deserve to Know Price on 7-6-20
- Winning Healthcare Food Fights Podcast – Part 1 – Carl Schuessler, Jr. on Winning Healthcare Food Fights Show – A Good Advisor and Courage
- Winning Healthcare Food Fights Podcast – Part 2 – Carl Schuessler, Jr. on Winning Healthcare Food Fights Show – Got Coverage Pain Gotta Change! How?
- Solving Healthcare Podcast – Carl Schuessler, Jr. | FairCo$t Health Plan | We are the Healthcare Champions My Friends on 6-26-20
- Solving Healthcare Podcast – Who are Mitigate Partners? What is FairCo$t Plan? on 6-26-20
- Primary Care Cures Podcast – Episode #71 Save a Rural Hospital, Save a County Says Carl Schuessler, an Uber Creative Benefit Advisor with Mitigate Partners Who Teaches Nearly Broke but Highly Rated Rurals Exactly How to Save Millions Building Their Own Local High Value Network with the Stakeholders – County, School and Local Pharmacy, Local Doc – Brick by Brick on 6-4-20
- Healthcare Solutions Podcast – Episode 6: Part 1 – Hope for Rural Healthcare with Carl Schuessler
- Healthcare Solutions Podcast – Episode 7: Part 2 – Hope for Rural Healthcare with Carl Schuessler
- Business RadioX Gwinnett Business Radio – Carl Schuessler with Mitigate Partners and Susan Boland Butts & Keith Fenton with Hi-Hope Service Center
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Ep #364: An Agent by Any Other Name… – With Carl Schuessler, Jr.
He has also spoken at many different conferences:
- The Great Reveal: Demystifying Healthcare Costs – The 6 Opportunities in Healthcare at Houchens Healthcare Summit in Owensboro, Kentucky on 9-30-20
- The Great Reveal: Demystifying Healthcare Costs – The 6 Opportunities in Healthcare at Owensboro, Kentucky SHRM Chapter on 9-8-20
- Florida Rural Health Association (FHRA) Summer Educational Series: DeSoto Memorial Hospital Case Study of How a Rural Florida Hospital with 157 employees saved $1.2 Million, 54%, in their Healthcare Spend & Improved Clinical Outcomes in One Year on 8-14-20
- The OrthoForum – Health Benefits Workshop – Applying Proven Cost Savings Solutions to Your Self-Funded Plan on 2-27-20
- The OrthoForum – How to Regain Control from the “Middles” to Be a Physician – How to Put Patients First w/o Ins. Company Hassles and Panel Discussion – The Move to Direct Employer Contracting: How Employers Are Reducing Their Healthcare Cost and What They Are Seeking From Orthopaedic Physicians on 2-28-20
- Texas Public Policy Foundation host its 18th Annual Policy Orientation for the Texas Legislature – Panel Session – Controlling Your Care: The Way Out of America’s Broken Health Insurance System on 1-23-20
- 2:00 P.M. Press Conference – Discussing the Proposed Florida HB961 Prescription Drug Cost Reduction Act Bill at Westshore Pharmacy with Jackie Toledo, Florida State House Representative on 12-17-19
- DPC Nuts and Bolts to 4.0 – DPC 2019 Panel 03 – Case Studies of DPC working with employers on 11-15-19
- Free2Care Virtual Conference – Rural Healthcare, Charity Care, & Physician Shortages on 11-2-19
He also has appeared in various publications:
Consultancy Cases
Great Clients
Awesome Reviews
“We were introduced to Carl Schuessler and Barry Murphy by Dr. Lee Gross from Epiphany Direct Primary Care and immediately realized that Mitigate Partners had the answers to questions that others were afraid to ask. Today’s Health Insurance Environment is designed with one goal in mind: “maximize profits for the insurance companies”. No one in the traditional health care industry wants to truly reduce the cost of health care for the patients. However, Mitigate Partners has built a “better mousetrap” – The FairCo$t Health Plan utilizing some logical principles that everyone can agree upon: cut out the middle man, minimize administrative costs, pay cash at the time of service, and look for the best quality. The mainstream health care providers are not concerned about the cost to the patient they are only concerned about keeping as much of the patient’s premium as they can by creating endless trails of administrative hurdles before authorizing a necessary service.”
