THE OFFICIAL
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A RATING
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Matt Ohrt
Executive Director: Free Market Medical Association
Driven to Fix What Is Broken
For Matt Ohrt, entrepreneurship and problem-solving began long before boardrooms and healthcare reform. Growing up as a farm boy in Iowa, he developed a hands-on mindset early, learning that when something is broken, you fix it. By age 10, he was already running small businesses, from a baseball card shop to shoveling snow. At the age of 19, he became a licensed general contractor and founded a construction company that supported him through college. That same entrepreneurial spirit would eventually fuel his mission to transform American healthcare.
Thereafter, he built a successful 25-year career in human resources with major organizations such as Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Fortune Brands, and Badger Mining. In 2016, Matt joined Merrill Steel as vice president of HR. There, he was asked a simple but powerful question by one of the owners: could he do anything about rising healthcare costs? That challenge changed everything. He led a complete health plan transformation, leading the company and its employees to save more than $5 million, ultimately discovering a new path that would become his life’s work.
The Tractor That Changed Everything
A few years later, Matt’s mission became deeply personal. He was run over by a 4,000-pound tractor on his property, along the Wisconsin River. “I should have died, but somehow I didn’t,” he says. What followed was not just physical recovery, but frustration with the healthcare system itself. After one night of care, he was charged almost $20,000 and billed for services he had openly refused. That experience solidified what he already suspected: the system was broken. “That’s where my passion was born. That’s when I put the pedal down”, he said.
Today, his overarching mission is clear; to fix American healthcare by opening up a true free market where employers and families can access quality care without being trapped by bloated insurance systems and hidden costs.
Building Better Alternatives
Matt now serves as executive director of the Free Market Medical Association and an employer health plan consultant, having previously co-founded the Self Fund Health Plan; one of the fastest-growing employer health plans in the Midwest. His work focuses on creating alternatives through direct primary care, direct specialty care, and empowering patients to shop for value rather than simply accept inflated, unknown pricing.
The results are measurable. Wisconsin has grown from just 15 direct primary care clinics in 2020 to almost 150 today, with similar growth in specialty practices. Through Self Fund Health, over 50 employers are now operating on a value-oriented shopping model that gives them freedom and financial control.
Purpose Beyond Business
Outside of work, Matt and his wife Denise serve as Champion Foster Parents in Wisconsin. Together, they have five children, two grandchildren, and continue adopting children from the foster care system. In 2018, they founded NOAH, a nonprofit foster closet that provides supplies, clothing, and support to foster families across the state. In 2020, they were honored with the Governor’s Foster Parents of the Year Award.
For Matt, leadership has never been about wealth; it has always been about impact. Whether helping employers save millions or opening his home to children in need, his mission remains the same: create something better for others.
Website: https://www.fmma.org
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ohrt-6a1335b