Passion-fueled benefits veteran saves clients millions while raking in new business

Marybeth Gray has been in benefits her entire 30 year career and the commitment is paying off. The senior strategist of health and welfare consulting at Trion Group, a Marsh & McLennan Agency in King of Prussia, Penn., is primarily responsible for securing new employee benefits consulting relationships with large employers in the United States. She has produced in excess of $1.5 million in new business each of the past five years and is ranked among the top five producers at all of Marsh & McLennan Agency’s over the same period.

Marybeth Gray-2.jpg

Gray’s production and focus on analyzing clients’ data utilization to save them millions of dollars led her to be named to EBA’s 2017 Most Influential Women in Benefit Advising list. To select this year’s honorees, EBA editors asked readers to submit the names of thought leaders who are making their mark on the benefit business through their unique approaches to client relations, benefits technology and/or mentoring other women. From the dozens of submissions received, the editors chose 30 benefit advisers to recognize for their outstanding achievements.

In addition to her client acquisition skills, Gray’s expertise in developing and redesigning pharmacy programs and understanding the cost drivers within those programs has become the standard for all of Trion’s consulting engagements and has resulted in the development of two separate and distinct pharmacy coalitions that deliver significant savings for Trion’s entire client base.

More broadly, applying her critical analysis of utilization and data management to understand key cost drivers, she helped one of the largest school districts in the country save $30 million over a contact period. “It was a tremendous win for the school district and the tax payers in the county,” says Jeff Kiely, vice president at Trion. “Despite the difficult vendor negotiations, the school district continues to be served as a valued client by the vendor, a testament to the insight, fairness and professionalism that Marybeth demonstrates each and every day.”

Also see:EBA’s 2017 Most Influential Women in Benefit Advising.”

For Gray, it is not just about using data to keep costs down but also the way in which she does it. “Our answer is not just cost shifting, it’s understanding the cost drivers and how to reduce it through better management techniques,” she says.

Although she has had personal success, Gray focuses on the accomplishments of the 40 members of her group at Trion. “It’s a team effort and I have the pleasure of working with some of the best people in the business,” she says. “It’s the people that make the difference. We all believe that our job is to help our clients put medicine and healthcare within reach of every employee and their families; to keep medical benefits affordable and accessible.”

Looking toward the future, Gray acknowledges there has never been a more important time in healthcare. “Our country is facing unprecedented challenges, but there are answers,” she says. “I have proven strategies to help employees and employers.”

“My innovation starts with my passion for what I do and my ability to reach out as many people as possible each year in order to help them become aware of the moving target that is benefits,” she adds. “Once people become aware of the possibilities, I feel it places them in a good place to ask me more questions and possibly partner with me and my excellent team.”

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Benefit strategies Pharmacy benefits Benefit management Advisor strategies Top Women in Benefit Advising
MORE FROM EMPLOYEE BENEFIT NEWS