In episode 198, Coffey talks with Kelly Baringer about 2025 trends in employee health benefits and strategies for reducing healthcare costs.

They discuss value-based care and directed networks that steer patients to providers with better outcomes; consumer-driven healthcare plans with transparent pricing and no balance billing; the rising costs of pharmacy benefits and hidden broker compensation; and fiduciary responsibilities of HR professionals when managing employee healthcare plans.

Good Morning, HR is brought to you by Imperative—Bulletproof Background Checks. For more information about our commitment to quality and excellent customer service, visit us at https://imperativeinfo.com. 

If you are an HRCI or SHRM-certified professional, this episode of Good Morning, HR has been pre-approved for half a recertification credit. To obtain the recertification information for this episode, visit https://goodmorninghr.com. 

About our Guest:

Kelley Barringer is a Vice President of Employee Benefits Consulting, with the Employee Benefits team located in Dallas, Texas. She serves as a senior client executive, client advocate, and key liaison with our clients’ executive teams, human resources, benefits, finance, and operations contacts. She provides oversight of the USI service team including overseeing the day-to-day needs of clients and is responsible for conducting periodic dialogue with key client contacts to assume overall satisfaction with the USI team. She joined USI in 2022 and has been in the insurance industry since 2015. 

Prior to USI, Kelley worked at Ardent Solutions/Alera Group for 6.5 years in employee benefits. Before that, she worked in technology sales and services at Canon USA. Kelley spent time in the medical device industry working with physical therapists and in operating rooms with implants. 

She has her B.S. in Exercise Science from (UTA) The University of Texas at Arlington and achieved her M.B.A. through (SMU) Southern Methodist University’s executive program. She was a Specialist in the US Army Reserve’s 441st Ambulance Unit, deployed to Camp Buehring, Kuwait as a medic.   

Kelley is involved in her local SHRM chapter, DallasHR, as a board member, and is a Tri-chair for the Richardson Chamber of Commerce’s Women in Leadership Committee. She and her oldest daughter are involved with their local National Charity League chapter. She also sits on the City of Richardson’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Board. 

Kelley was raised in Garland, TX and resides in Richardson, TX.  She and her husband have three school-aged children.

Kelley Barringer can be reached at

https://www.usi.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelleybarringer/

About Mike Coffey:

Mike Coffey is an entrepreneur, licensed private investigator, business strategist, HR consultant, and registered yoga teacher.

In 1999, he founded Imperative, a background investigations and due diligence firm helping risk-averse clients make well-informed decisions about the people they involve in their business.

Imperative delivers in-depth employment background investigations, know-your-customer and anti-money laundering compliance, and due diligence investigations to more than 300 risk-averse corporate clients across the US, and, through its PFC Caregiver & Household Screening brand, many more private estates, family offices, and personal service agencies.

Imperative has been named a Best Places to Work, the Texas Association of Business’ small business of the year, and is accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association. 

Mike shares his insight from 25+ years of HR-entrepreneurship on the Good Morning, HR podcast, where each week he talks to business leaders about bringing people together to create value for customers, shareholders, and community.

Mike has been recognized as an Entrepreneur of Excellence by FW, Inc. and has twice been recognized as the North Texas HR Professional of the Year. 

Mike serves as a board member of a number of organizations, including the Texas State Council, where he serves Texas’ 31 SHRM chapters as State Director-Elect; Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County; the Texas Association of Business; and the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, where he is chair of the Talent Committee.

Mike is a certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) through the HR Certification Institute and a SHRM Senior Certified Professional (SHRM-SCP). He is also a Yoga Alliance registered yoga teacher (RYT-200) and teaches multiple times each week.

Mike and his very patient wife of 28 years are empty nesters in Fort Worth. 

Learning Objectives:

1.       Investigate value-based care options like UHC's app-based plans that use provider ratings and incentivized co-pays to guide employees toward higher quality care while reducing costs.

2.       Identify and understand broker compensation structures within your healthcare plans to fulfill fiduciary responsibilities and ensure transparency in benefit costs.

3.       Evaluate personal and company liability protection needs regarding employee benefits decisions, including whether HR professionals need to be covered under errors and omissions policies.