Welcome to the personal web site of Tony Novak, the health care accountant

 

I work at the intersection of consumer finance and employee benefits in my work as a compensation planner. My career mission is to help employers and employees get more value from the process we call "earning a living" especially through maximizing the value of employee benefits. This site is primarily a compilation of previously published articles, columns and editorials on the topics of my personal passions. 

If you may be interested in professional services, please see the small business benefit consulting page.

Personal financial planning

My work in the field of compensation planning focuses on the goal of keeping more of what you earn protected from the effects of taxes, liabilities and over-spending. I've been fortunate to have served clients including two top executives from public companies. More typically my clients are self-employed business owners or professionals. Compensation planning overlaps the fundamentals of personal finance and I've been thrilled to have the opportunity to cover many of these topics in publications, personal presentations, through public media and in the classroom.

Health care reform

I've been on the front line of health care reform at a grass roots level for almost three full decades promoting the power of individual responsibility in transforming the system. My work was primarily intended to position myself as a "go-to guy" when businesses sought to revamp their outdated health plans through the use of consumer-driven strategies. Gaining control over health care is a core issue to our financial success both as individuals and as a nation. The consumer advocacy emphasis is on improved utilization and to save money and improve efficiency. Over these years I've written literally thousands of Q&As, op-ed bits, advisory articles and newspaper columns on health care topics and made hundreds of personal and electronic media presentations to groups and clients in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. I am pleased to now be a an individual member of America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), an industry association that shares similar objectives.  

Leadership

Developing leadership should not be an accidental process. Whether within ourselves, our homes, our community or work environment, leadership development is a lifelong process that has tremendous power to transform the world. I've studied the topic from the perspective of a coach, a parent an organizational manager and a financial adviser and am always eager to learn more on effective leadership techniques. My hope is that this process of sharing stories, articles, examples and inspirations will encourage others to consider the possibilities that deliberate study of leadership may have in their own lives.