Bernard Health will help you shop for health insurance on Black Friday

A few lucky shoppers in Tennessee, Texas, Indiana and Ohio could pick up the best deals in health insurance today, instead of fighting the mobs for big screen TVs and Frozen dolls.

Bernard Health has store fronts in five cities in four states. Founder Alex Tolber t wants to help people figure out what insurance plan is best for them. He said that selecting an insurance plan has become as complicated as doing your taxes.

'This is a problem to be managed, not solved,' he said. 'And at the core of it being more effectively managed is for people to have better resources to figure it out. That's our sweet spot, small employers, individuals and families.'

Tolbert is betting that over the next 15 - 20 years, group health insurance is going to go away completely and push even more health insurance decisions down to individuals.

In addition to stores in Nashville, Indianapolis, Cleveland and Austin, Tolbert also has advisers embedded in hospitals.

'Hospitals hire us to provide help to their patients,' he said. 'It's one thing to hope that your patients sign up for health insurance but what about signing up for a plan that includes the hospitals they use?'

Tolbert said that he has been working with hospitals in rural areas and that the company's advisers have become small enrollment centers. Advisers are all on salary, and they get a commission on some sales to small businesses.

Tolbert started Bernard Health (as in St. Bernard, the dog that rescues people lost in the mountains) when he was in graduate school getting a JD/MBA degree at Vanderbilt University. He sees the company as an alternative to the call center model. Because commissions on health insurance sales are so low, that is the only business model that has flourished.

'Commissions are terrible, they are part of medical loss ratio under healthcare reform,' he said. 'They don't cover the amount of help people need.'

Bernard Health advisers will help people sign up for insurance on an exchange for free (like a 27-year-old who can't be on her parents' policy any more). They also offer consulting sessions for people with more complex decisions to make, such as an older married couple. One person might be ready for Medicare but the other is not eligible yet. 'We have an hourly consulting rate of $150 and we also offer a flat fee product Mediguidance, which covers 2 meetings,' he said. 'We figured out there are 15 different ways to receive Medicare benefits.'

Tolbert said health insurance needs are nuanced and don't fit into a standard list of questions offered on web forms used to sign up for insurance. After advisers talk with customers about their individual situations, the conversation moves to plans and rates.

'We want to be the Switzerland between carriers and the medical providers,' he said.

Tolbert bootstrapped for the first several years after he started the company in 2006 and in 2013 raised money for the first time. The first Bernard Health store opened in 2010. Bernard Health just launched in Atlanta, but the store is not open yet.