About Us

Bernard Health is a Nashville, Tennessee-based holding company operating four subsidiaries focused on solving the healthcare, benefits and HR challenges faced by employers and individuals.

Year Founded

Team Members

States

Bernard Health History

Alex Tolbert started Bernard Health as a benefits brokerage during his studies at Vanderbilt University after learning about the healthcare industry’s misaligned incentives. The company was founded in 2006 with the idea of using Health Savings Accounts to better align the industry and help consumers. Nine months later, Alex’s brother Brian joined the team, and things really got going.

Since then, our team has worked hard to grow the company and its value proposition.

BerniePortal

In 2008, witnessing firsthand the transactional challenges small and mid-sized businesses faced when it comes to administering benefits and HR, Bernard Health launched BerniePortal — an all-in-one HRIS distributed through a national network of brokers. In 2019, the company launched a second software product, BernieForms, which streamlines the health form process required for self-funding group benefits plans.

Alpine

To provide services and solutions for the full scope of benefits and HR challenges faced by business owners, we launched a third-party administrator in 2019 to provide technology-enhanced, simplified COBRA Administration for today’s modern businesses.

Bernard Benefits

Our brokerage arm, Bernard Benefits helps employers in Nashville, Austin, and Indianapolis make the best choice when it comes to healthcare and benefits. Our advisors are experts in a range of funding strategies and provide a technology-based benefits experience.

Bernard HFP

Seeing a significant need to help consumers navigate the complexities of health insurance, we developed a decade of expertise advising consumers on individual health insurance, now accessible via provider and financial advisor partners through Bernard Healthcare Financial Planning.

Our Mission and Guiding Principles

Our mission is to be the most trusted provider of the highest value benefit solutions for employers and individuals.

Our Clients

We aim to help our clients by being a steady, reliable voice, understanding their needs and providing peace of mind that they have adopted the best possible health insurance strategy.

Our People

We know the work we do is important, and we’re passionate about it. Our team is strongest if we operate in an environment of mutual respect, and we contribute to it on a day-to-day basis.

Our Systems

So many problems stem from misaligned incentives, so we work hard to ensure our systems and our incentives are lined up effectively, pointing toward nothing but doing the best thing for each client.