Change Agents with Andy Stumpf The Corrupt Incentives Inside America’s Healthcare System (with Brigham Buhler)
Mar 4, 2026
Brigham Buhler, healthcare entrepreneur and founder of Ways2Well, builds patient-first, cash-pay clinics focused on longevity and preventive medicine. He discusses why insurance and PBMs created perverse incentives, battles with Big Pharma and the FDA, the lab’s techy longevity tools, and AI-enabled, proactive care models. The conversation tours innovative clinic design and advanced therapies.
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Longevity By Activating Ancient Genes
- Brigham Bueller frames longevity as activating ancient genetic programs found in species like jellyfish and Greenland sharks.
- He believes unlocking those “black box” genes could prevent chronic disease and dramatically extend healthspan by delaying degeneration mechanisms.
How Insurance Incentives Monetize Chronic Disease
- Bueller argues insurance and PBMs shifted incentives to monetize chronic disease, making preventive care unattractive to insurers.
- He explains PBMs inflate list prices and receive rebates, so insurers profit from prescription volume rather than reducing drug costs.
Pay For Tests To Bypass Insurance Limits
- Do take health data outside insurance constraints by paying for targeted tests and using them to drive care decisions.
- Bueller recommends comprehensive blood panels and DEXA scans to find root causes insurers often deny clinicians time or tests to uncover.