On the latest installment of Broken Benefits, we're pleased to welcome Brian Marcotte, Former Vice President of Compensation and Benefits at Honeywell International, for a deep dive into his extensive career in benefits.

Brian and his team were responsible for implementing a nationwide network-based point of service plan that was transformative for its time. Additionally, their team was able to achieve seven straight years with a flat trend at Honeywell.

On this episode, Brian shares some of his most valuable wisdom along with stories to help inspire today's benefits workers.

Timecodes:

0:30 - Introducing Brian Marcotte to the show

1:26 - The high points during Brian's career at Honeywell

3:17 - A quick word from our sponsor

3:47 - Discovering new strategies and bringing them into reality

6:50 - Lessons that Brian learned along the way

10:08 - "Elevating the health of the population requires being innovative and nimble"

11:17 - Where to begin in developing an efficient health plan

20:00 - The difficulty of displaying and discussing data with different company sectors

23:08 - How Brian presented the health plan like a financial plan

24:16 - Handling pushback from his CEO

28:12 - The most difficult conversation Brian had with his CEO

31:46 - The importance of being data-driven and data-focused on these efforts

36:10 - Lessons learned from having difficult conversations with leadership

39:17 - How Apple's engineers were able to get Steve Jobs to buy into the iPhone idea

43:03 - Report on the experience and the quality outcomes, not costs

46:06 - Closing remarks

Connect with Lee Lewis:

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On the latest episode of Broken Benefits, we welcome Former Senior Vice President of Walmart Health to discuss the monumental footprint he left at the world's largest retailer!

Marcus Osborne and his team were impacting over 100 million lives with their benefits strategies at Walmart Health and he shares countless experiences that paved the way towards innovative and successful benefits strategies.

Marcus provides a wealth of knowledge and expertise within this episode! So, what are you waiting for? Click that play button now!

Timecodes:

0:22 - Introduction and overview on the guest of the day

1:53 - How Marcus approached solutions to healthcare challenges

6:03 - Why do businesses not engage healthcare problems like Marcus did

11:43 - Marcus is known for addressing trends within markets

18:46 - The pros and cons of using carriers to be our integrators

30:40 - Some misconceptions around what you're paying your carriers for

40:15 - Do we have the data and tools needed to make informed decisions

44:43 - The big discoveries Marcus had throughout his career

59:12 - A word from today's sponsor

1:00:00 - The common mistakes that employers are making that are easy to correct

1:05:08 - How big companies can run small tests

1:10:36 - The ripple effect of change on hospital systems

1:17:12 - How to connect with Marcus online

1:18:40 - Closing remarks

Connect with Lee Lewis:

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We're back with an all-new episode!

Joining us on Broken Benefits is Mike Adams, Innovative Benefits Thought Leader, who shares his experiences as a top benefits executive at Fortune 100 companies throughout his career.

Mike was a pioneer and developed foundational healthcare strategies that are now leveraged by many in today's day and age. Listen as we explore his career, the risks he took along the way, and the lives he was able to help change as a result of his innovative work!

Timecodes:

0:30 - Introduction and overview on Mike Adams

1:52 - How to approach vendors and manage those relationships

3:06 - A message from our sponsor, Catalize Health®

5:30 - It's important to deeply discuss the scope of work with your carriers

8:13 - What is a fireable offense within this relationship?

12:23 - Mike managed a -4.5% trend (compounded annually) at Dean Foods

15:40 - What a sustainable relationship looks like

20:32 - It's very important to understand the leadership team at the company you're working with

22:39 - How to take risks and protect yourself

24:14 - Dumping the vendor and not the strategy

28:03 - How to manage member disruption and mitigate it overall

30:00 - Working with populations across all demographics and care dynamics

35:33 - Healthcare has become transactional in today's day and age

37:53 - How Mike would approach working with a new company

39:40 - How you can get in touch with Mike

40:55 - Closing remarks

Connect with Lee Lewis:

LinkedIn

Welcome back to Broken Benefits!

We're so excited to follow up out launch of the show with another great episode, featuring Christin Deacon, Thought Leader and Healthcare Disruptor, and a great discussion surrounding some of the political challenges within healthcare at large.

Christin shares not only her experiences with these challenges, but also how she implemented the first reverse auction PBM for a $900,000 plan.

There's so much wisdom and great insight packed into this episode and we're thrilled to share this fantastic conversation with you. Enjoy!

Timecodes:

0:46 - Introducing Christin Deacon and sharing her background

1:50 - How Chris deconstructed and approached the challenges in healthcare

4:06 - The common misconceptions about being fiduciaries

10:00 - You have to acknowledge that you have a problem!

16:20 - Christin's biggest goal and what she was aiming to achieve in healthcare

18:58 - There isn't a technology silver bullet that can solve these issues

27:26 - What we can do as employers to make primary care more centric

35:56 - Why health insurance operates so differently than other insurances

40:00 - The risks Christin took throughout her career

47:37 - How to get in touch with Christin for more information

48:00 - Closing remarks

Connect with Lee Lewis:

LinkedIn

Welcome to the inaugural episode of Broken Benefits!

We spend billions on benefits, yet healthcare is unaffordable and complicated. More than half of Americans don't even take their paid vacation, yet people are burning out faster than ever and remote work is scrambling company cultures. It doesn't have to be this way. Great benefits can attract and retain top talent, communicate your values, rejuvenate your productivity, move your stock price, and even save lives. 

On our first episode, we welcome Stephen Hoelper, Digital Health Executive, onto the show for a deep dive into his extremely interesting career with Comcast. Stephen managed 1% trend for seven years at Comcast and credits the success to running benefits like an incubator.

Click that play button and enjoy a fantastic dialogue from one of the industries leading legends!

Timecodes:

0:22 - Welcome to Broken Benefits!

0:40 - Who is Stephen Hoelper?

1:54 - Deconstructing what is broken about healthcare from the employer's lens

4:01 - The surprises that Stephen found within analyzing data

5:48 - Tactics that Stephen's team utilized that were outside the status quo

9:11 - Benefits leaders are inundated with vendors

11:08 - Distilling feedback and working alongside the vendors

14:49 - Who should you hire when running a health plan?

18:06 - What are the tactics that benefits managers should be focusing on most?

21:00 - Take a moment and think like an actual person

25:19 - Stephen creating over $500 million in savings

34:20 - The various contradictory alignments throughout the healthcare space

38:30 - The biggest risks that Stephen took during his career

42:06 - Quantity is quality! As you do more, you find the big wins

44:21 - You have to treat benefits like a business!

46:22 - How to connect with Stephen and learn more

46:44 - Closing remarks

Connect with Lee Lewis:

LinkedIn