This episode features an interview with Serafina Miller, Senior Principal Consultant at Mercer. Serafina has been in the industry for over two decades, specializing in group account management for multiple industries like banking, biotechnology, transportation, engineering firms, and law firms. At Mercer, Serafina partners with employers to ensure their employee benefits programs integrate with compensation strategies and business objectives, as well as aligning with the organizations’ DEI strategies.

In this episode, Sasha sits down with Serafina to discuss designing inclusive benefits plans, why self-funding is a win-win for finance and benefits teams, and the importance of provider alignment.

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“A lot of conversations in these last handful of years about provider alignment to the communities in which they serve, and really pushing insurance carriers to work on their provider diversity. Hiring more Black, Latine physicians, transgender physicians, non-binary physicians, because there are certain conversations that are much easier to have because there's an alignment of life experience. There's a believability factor that's built into that dynamic. It encourages more people to get more engaged in their healthcare. We're so focused on preventive care, if we have more diverse physicians, people will get more engaged in their preventive care and ideally live, the goal is longer, healthier, and therefore, happier lives.” – Serafina Miller

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Episode Timestamps:

*(00:32): Serafina dives into Mercer 

*(05:54): What size groups are moving to self-funded

*(08:47): Ancillary and PTO trends in the benefits space

*(12:09): What family-building, fertility, and reproductive health benefits look like

*(18:00): Components of an inclusive benefits program

*(26:46): The importance of virtual care

*(28:56): Serafina’s advice for those new to the industry

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Links:

Connect with Serafina on LinkedIn

Connect with Sasha on LinkedIn

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