Jim Vollmer is the founder and President of Employer Benefit Solutions (EBS). He has earned the status of Group Benefits Associate (GBA) and holds a Masters in Healthcare Administration (MHA) from Trinity University in San Antonio. Jim has established a reputation among clients, peers and carriers as an advisor who is attentive to detail and provides leadership and sound recommendations to clients and prospects. He also possesses the unique ability to absorb and communicate difficult issues in an easy to understand manner.
Prior to starting his career in employee benefits in 2001, Jim was the first Executive Director of FirstCare Lubbock, a Regional Director of Managed Care with HCA and a Vice President of Business Development at a then Triad owned Hospital in Tulsa.
His experiences building provider networks and negotiating managed care contracts with all the major insurance companies including Aetna, Blue Cross, Cigna and United Healthcare. The skill set cultivated then is now a real difference maker helping set EBS apart from others all to the benefit of EBS clients and future clients.
As a benefits broker, Jim’s focus has always been on the client. As he says “there truly is no greater reward than being counted as a trusted advisor delivering solutions to contain medical costs for the long term.” Lower costs and better renewals directly results in richer plans and happy employees.
Melody plays a significant role for EBS with a primary focus on self-funded accounts and she is our in-house go to person for most all compliance matters. She has over 3 decades of experience in our industry but more important than that our clients love and appreciate her work ethic and total commitment to resolving matters that come about.
For most of her insurance career, Melody has been the primary point of contact for groups with 50 to 750 employees and as you would expect many of those larger clients were usually partially self-funded. Melody also has extensive experiences with third party administrators (TPA’s), pharmacy benefit managers (PBM’s), summary plan descriptions, flexible spending accounts and health savings accounts.Melody is a great team player and a calm and steady hand for our clients. She and her husband are very involved in their local church and Melody has served in many leadership positions while also volunteering at Manna which is a local food bank in the area.
Rebecca has been a cornerstone for EBS since our inception in 2007. She is a true professional and well respected by our clients and the carriers that she so frequently interacts with. Her career in the insurance industry began in 2002. Since that time her knowledge of our industry has grown exponentially and the ability to resolve issues is unparalleled.
Rebecca’s character is strong and resolute, and she is blessed with the ability to resolve complex issues accurately and in a timely manner. More importantly, she has that unique capacity of working on many issues at the same time.
While she frequently quotes on self-funded cases she is a master of the fully insured cases. And regardless of the funding arrangement, she is the best at installing new cases and leading open enrollments. Rebecca is a former member of the Graham Desk & Derrick Club where she served on the Scholarship Committee and as the Treasurer. In addition, she is active in the Cross Country Christian Community and a Chamber Ambassador. She and her husband, who has earned the unofficial title of EBS Vice President of Marketing, have been married for 30 years and have three daughters. They also take great pleasure in spoiling their grandchildren.
Renee Petersen, MBA - Account Executive
Renee began her career in the industry in 2001 after graduating from Texas Tech University with an MBA in Health Organization Management. She worked in various roles in the industry including working for a national medical carrier as a broker liaison and with a general agent as an ancillary account manager. She is a subject matter expert in product offering, enrollment, billing, quoting, underwriting, installation, compliance, and customer service. Renee enjoys helping and teaching and is a true expert with Benefit Admin Systems. But above all, she is a wonderful person with an attitude as good as you will find anywhere. Renee and her husband, Tex, have been married for 31 years and they have 4 children (3 of which are adopted). Two of her children are grown while the younger two are still in the early stage of their educational journey. Renee and her family are active members of SouthCrest Baptist Church in Lubbock.
JP Hasegawa, BAS – Account Executive / Business Development
JP moved from his home in Brazil to the United States to pursue higher education and a life of service. He is a graduate of Christ for the Nations Institute and Dallas Baptist University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree with an emphasis in financial principles and Christian leadership. He is fluent in English, Portuguese and Spanish and is an experienced interpreter. He worked in the insurance industry two years before joining EBS, where his client-first mindset, problem-solving skills, and attention to detail have helped build long-term relationships rooted in trust. He is passionate about equipping others with the right tools to protect what matters most and believes in making a meaningful difference through personalized, integrity-driven service. JP was born and trained to serve. He has 8 years of ministry experience and a heart for The Truth. JP is married to a wonderful wife and together they are starting a family. He is an avid Soccer fan and has a surprisingly good knowledge of the old NBA (when it was a beautiful game). He has a passion for life, sports and family and appreciates the value of teamwork, discipline, and perseverance.