National Association of Benefits and Insurance Providers Iowa Chapter

Marcy M. Buckner, J.D., is the senior vice president of government affairs with the National Association of Benefits and Insurance Providers (NABIP). In this role, Marcy manages the association’s government affairs team, including the monitoring of activities of all state legislatures, insurance departments, and intergovernmental organizations to coordinate efforts to advance the interests of professional health insurance producers. In addition, she serves as the association’s liaison to federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Treasury. Marcy is also the staff liaison to NABIP's legislative management team, Legislative Council, and Legislative Council working groups.

Marcy received her Juris Doctor from New England School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and History from the College of Charleston in South Carolina.

When she’s not in the office or traveling the country speaking at healthcare symposiums, Marcy spends time introducing her rescue Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Harrison, to city life.

Gianni Comito is the Regional Group IDI Sales Specialist for Comprehensive Income Protection Solutions for the Heartland Region, supporting KS, MO, IA, NE. He works in tandem with Regional Vice President Rick Cordaro and local Group Non-Med Reps to distribute an enhanced Comprehensive Income Protection strategy for Executives. His role upon inception is one of a kind for Principal and he has enjoyed building this distribution strategy from the ground up.

Gianni has worked in the financial services industry for 10 years. From Nov. 2012 – April 2015 he was a part of the Individual Life Wholesaling Team at Principal Financial Group. Since April 2015 his focus has primarily been on Individual Income Protection with a role as both Internal and External Wholesaler. 

Trevor Daer spent almost a decade working with clients and brokers across the U.S. at a leading third-party administrator before eventually founding Granite Peak Analytics in 2019. He spent 4 years as the Director of Prescription Services helping clients negotiate transparent and cost-effective PBM solutions. His experience in the health plan space provides a holistic view of pharmacy benefits, eliminating traditional silos that may reduce prescription costs, but increase medical spending. Trevor also brings businesses unique and cost-effective benefits solutions as a licensed insurance producer.

In his role as government relations counsel, Brandon Geib advocates on behalf of Wellmark before legislators and regulators in Iowa, South Dakota, and the federal government. He works with a variety of stakeholders both within and outside of Wellmark to ensure that Wellmark's public policy initiatives represent the interests of Wellmark's members and align with Wellmark's key strategic business priorities.

Before joining Wellmark, Brandon managed state and federal government relations initiatives in the energy industry, as well as for patient advocacy groups in Des Moines, IA. He also served as general counsel for a political and corporate data analytics firm based out of New York.

Brandon is a graduate of Central College and Drake University Law School, where he specialized in government relations practice and corporate law.

Dr. Barbara Hodne serves as Chief Quality Officer at The Iowa Clinic. In addition to practicing in Family Medicine, Dr. Hodne directs the Population Health efforts at the largest physician owned multi-specialty group in Central Iowa, with more than 200 physicians and healthcare providers, practicing in 40 specialties.  Dr. Hodne has a dual role to educate health care providers as well as educating and caring for her individual patients. She is interested in many areas of medicine and enjoys developing long-term relationships with families across multiple generations. In addition, she enjoys local, regional and national opportunities to advance patient care and population health initiatives.

 She earned her medical degree at Des Moines University and completed her Family Medicine Residency at Iowa Lutheran Hospital, affiliated with University of Iowa School of Medicine.

Dr. Shane Hoffman is the founding owner and one of the providers at Thrive Family Chiropractic in Urbandale, Iowa. Dr. Shane graduated in 2014 from the University of Northern Iowa with a Bachelors of Science in Biology & pursued his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic, graduating in 2017. Throughout his career, Dr. Shane has pursued hundreds of hours of continuing education & specialized training in the focusses of acute & chronic care as well as a heavy emphasis on pre & post natal care, pediatrics, & full family wellness. Our mission is educating families, and individuals to make informed decisions about their health without the use of drugs and medications. Three family chiropractic strives to make quality care, convenient, accessible, and affordable for entire families.

Jake Ketzner served as chief of staff for Governor Kim Reynolds and Lt. Governor Adam Gregg from 2017 – 2018. Upon Governor Branstad’s resignation to serve as U.S. Ambassador to China, Governor Reynolds asked Jake to lead her transition team and serve as chief of staff. In this role, Jake oversaw a team of more than 20 policy and communications professionals while managing relations with more than 40 state department and agency heads.

Jake was instrumental in guiding Governor Reynolds’ policies during her historic first legislative session, including the largest tax cut in Iowa history, record education spending, advancing one of the nation’s most aggressive workforce initiatives, balancing the state’s $7.3 billion budget, and working to expand healthcare options for farmers and small business owners.

Kevin Kuhlman is the Vice President of Federal Government Relations at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).  

Kevin leads NFIB’s lobbying and advocacy efforts before Congress. When he first arrived at NFIB, Kevin specialized in healthcare issues during the implementation of theAffordable Care Act. Kevin also tracked consideration and implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, advocating for small business tax relief for small business owner members. Last year, Kevin managed NFIB’s advocacy on Covid-19 recovery legislation.

Before joining NFIB in 2011, Kevin handled healthcare, labor, education, and small business issues for Congressman Peter Roskam from Illinois. He started his career on Capitol Hill in 2006 as a research staff member for the Committee on Ways and Means.

Dr. Timothy McCoy is a family medicine physician and medical director at MercyOne South Des Moines Family Medicine in Des Moines, Iowa. He also serves as family medicine chair of the MercyOne Medical Group in Central Iowa.

Dr. McCoy received his medical degree from Des Moines University in Des Moines, Iowa, and has spent his entire professional career in Central Iowa. His clinical interests include hospice and palliative care, as well as family medicine care. He enjoys helping his patients navigate through the complexities of the medical system and providing personalized care to his patients.

As Senior Vice President, Medicare Solutions, Dwane McFerrin, CLU®, CFP®, RHU®, CLTC, LLIF has helped position Senior Market Sales® as a market leader selling Medicare Advantage and Part D in addition to Medicare Supplement. He is responsible for the strategic direction of the Medicare product line, carrier relationships and a team of marketing consultants who support sales in excess of 600,000 new business applications into Medicare-related products annually.

In 2020 the Omaha Association of Health Underwriters (OAHU) selected Dwane its Underwriter of the Year Award recognizing distinguished service to the association and the industry. McFerrin served as Chair for seven years on NABIP's Medicare Working Group, served a two-year term on the Omaha AHU Board of Directors and currently serves on NABIP's mental health task force and prescription drug task force.

Doug Ommen began his service as Iowa Insurance Commissioner in December 2016. Ommen has a strong public service background. Ommen’s dedication and desire to serve the public began in the Missouri Attorney General’s Office, where as an assistant attorney general, he prosecuted criminal frauds and led the fight to protect consumers over the course of three decades.

Ommen served as Deputy Insurance Commissioner at the Iowa Insurance Division from August 2013 to December 2016.  Ommen has also served as Missouri’s Insurance Director and as Missouri’s Securities Commissioner.

Ommen obtained his law degree in 1985 from the Saint Louis University School of Law, and is licensed to practice law.  Ommen and his wife, Sharon, have two married children and six grandchildren 

Lynn Schreder is co-owner of KHI Solutions, A General Agency specializing in supporting agents with health insurance for individuals, families and small employer groups. KHI is located in Fort Dodge and Johnston. Prior to purchasing KHI in January of 2009, Lynn worked for Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Iowa in Sales and Marketing.  Lynn has been in the sales and marketing field for over 30 years, including 14 years in the telecommunication industry.

Lynn is a graduate of Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in industrial education.

Lynn currently serves as Immediate Past President of NAIFA-Iowa and is past-president of the Iowa Association of Health Underwriters (now NABIP Iowa).

Lynn recently served on the Iowa Workforce Development Board and chaired the board in 2020-2022.  Lynn serves on the NFIB Leadership Council supporting independent businesses through advocacy work at the state and federal levels.  Lynn is past President of NAWBO Iowa and past board member of One Iowa.

Lynn is married with two small dogs and lives in Granger.

Dr. Ed Steinmann founded Steinmann Family Health in 2005 after leaving a large corporate practice with the intention of establishing his own private practice free of the rules and constraints of the big health systems. He graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic Medicine in 1982, and continued his education at DMU where he graduated as a DO in 1989. He has worked in many environments as a Family Practice Physician for the last 30 years, and greatly enjoys the variety that family practice brings. His favorite part of practice is interacting with the vast variety of patients that he sees on a daily basis, and building lifelong relationships with the families that he has cared for since birth. He currently sees patients for family practice, osteopathic care, and hormone replacement therapy. 

Noah brings more than a decade of political and government relations experience to help clients navigate complex political and policy issues to achieve desired results. Noah’s in-house government relations background includes a deep understanding of complex areas of healthcare, insurance and government procurements. Noah is a leader in health insurance policy in Iowa and the Midwest. His experience advocating for clients in Iowa and other states gives him a unique perspective on how best to achieve client goals in Des Moines.

Dr. Jon Van Der Veer is the founder and CEO of Exemplar Care. He is a graduate of Des Moines University and completed training in Internal Medicine at The University of Iowa-Des Moines Program. He started Exemplar Care in 2019 and it is Central Iowa’s premier direct primary care organization. In addition, Exemplar Care serves the Des Moines metro with 24/7 urgent care. Prior to starting Exemplar Care, he worked as a Regional Medical Officer at CareMore Health after serving as Chief Medical Officer at Greene Co Medical Center on behalf of UnityPoint Clinic where he also practiced outpatient internal medicine.

Dr. Bill Withers has nearly three decades of management and leadership experience in both business and education, and he is a two-time presenter at the International Conference on Business in Honolulu. [Which is where he fell in love with his “Aloha shirts” he sometimes wears!]  

Bill has both studied and served organizations such as Proctor & Gamble, Ritz-Carlton, Disney, Four Seasons, Starbucks, and Southwest Airlines, and he was a contributor to three books in the areas of leadership and customer service.

After an early career working in media and marketing, Bill spent 20 years in higher education, training, and development at Wartburg College where he was recently awarded Faculty Emeritus-status by their board upon his recent retirement there. 

Today Bill serves on the executive-leadership team at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, the largest mainline protestant church of its type in North America.

Dr. Withers continues to specialize in the areas of public relations, customer service, organizational change, and leadership.

Amy Ziegler, Manager of Client Relations with MercyOne-Business Solutions is trained in Social Work and Human Development from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Amy has a varied background working in the health and wellbeing space. Currently, she works with employers to initiate wellbeing solutions and strategies to fit the needs of their employees. Amy has worked in the health and wellbeing field at MercyOne for 17 years, while priding herself in maintaining long relationships with the clients she serves. Her knowledge of trends, previous advisory board positions, networking skills and open minded approach gives her a unique perspective on employee engagement. Amy lives in Urbandale, Iowa with her husband and two children.