Self-Funded

Insurance Captives & Innovation in Healthcare with David Voorhees, CEO of True Captive Insurance.   Insurance captives have been covered quite a bit on my podcast because: 1) They are perceived to be more complex (they're really not) 2) They are an interesting vehicle for smaller employers to successfully transition into being self-funded. David Voorhees sat down with me after the True Captive St Louis Summit, to discuss the motivations for the creation of True Captive Insurance, why they decided to take risk on every group that joins their captive, and how they are partnering with other innovative solution providers to create best-in-breed options for small to mid-sized employers.   David also talks about how fear often drives the avoidance of innovation, especially for insurance brokers who at times have the misconception that they are obligated to be experts in everything.  He argues that NOT knowing something is good, as it should stimulate curiosity and a continual quest for knowledge, and I tend to agree.   David is one of the most consistently eloquent speakers I have had the joy to sit down with, and it is an honor to be affiliated with him through these conferences, and the sponsorship of my podcast.  Enjoy!

How Jumbo Employers are Solving Healthcare.   This podcast focuses on the Health Transformation Alliance (HTA) - A Co-Op - that is fully owned by about 65 Jumbo employers, whose entire mission is to create superior outcomes for their health plan.   Their goals are to save lives, and save dollars.   These employer groups need to have about 5,000 lives on their health plan and pay $500k to join, and all own an equal equity stake in the Co-Op.  This fee can be paid over time and can come out of your health budget since it is an ERISA-approved expense.   By joining, these jumbo employers get access to the HTA teams, resources, and the opportunity to collaborate with the other members of the Co-Op   There are certain outcomes that jumbo employers can achieve in healthcare due to their scale and aggregated buying power, which Lee discusses on the podcast.   There are also things that Jumbo employers CANNOT do, that a smaller employer can, and we make sure to focus on some of those solutions as well.   Enjoy!   https://www.htahealth.com/

What is it like to work for a TPA?  Owen Paradis of JP Farley joins me on the podcast for a discussion on how he got into the insurance world after working as a Corrections Officer.    Like most of us, he didn't intend to get into insurance, but has nonetheless found a home here and embraced the learning curve with open arms.  Half of the battle is just learning the acronyms, and Owen even said he used my Stop Loss with Spencer videos to help him learn the industry lingo.  Owen talks about how much he has enjoyed the TPA space so far, and judging by the brief time I had with him, I believe he will have a tremendously successful career in Employee Benefits!

Have you ever wondered how to plan a conference?   Tonya Crawford of True Captive Insurance sits down with me to share what it takes to put together a major event.   The main thing she said is that planning a conference starts with having great partners.  Not just from a sponsorship perspective, but to provide support, as well as help market the event.   It typically would take 2-3 months to plan an event, but Tonya and True Captive were able to pull off a great event in St Louis within 6 weeks.   The event in St Louis was absolutely top notch, with outstanding presenters, great attendees, and very useful information being freely shared to better educate the market at large.  In my opinion, that is the way it should be!

Everything you need to know about Insurance Captives, featuring Stephani Manning of Innovative Captive Strategies.  We discuss the Layers of Captive, how those layers interact, and which parties are responsible for each of the three layers of the captive.  Stephani is a teacher by nature, and it really comes across in how simply she explains how captives work.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to MC (host) a big conference?   In this episode of "Self-Funded with Spencer" on the road in St Louis at the True Captive Symposium, I discussed this topic with the host of the event - Kiera Hanselman.  Kiera started to MC events during the pandemic at virtual conferences, and did such a good job that she kept getting asked to do it again.   She talks about how her theater training helped her prepare to be on stage, but it really comes down to understanding the conference dynamics, getting to know the organization putting the event on, as well as identifying what topics will resonate with that specific audience.   Kiera did an incredible job at the event, and I am sure you will see her on stage hosting an Employee Benefits conference near you soon.

How Fasting Can Change Your Life.   What is Fasting?  What are the benefits of Fasting?  How does a beginner get started Fasting?  What is the difference in Fasting and Intermittent Fasting?  What is Autophagy?  What is a Water Fast?  What is a Fasting Mimicking Diet?.   Mark Testa is an expert at Fasting, as well as an expert in Stem Cells.  Mark has personally gone through multiple 5-day fasts, and is a regular intermittent faster like myself.   Personally, Intermittent Fasting has helped stabilize my energy levels, provided mental clarity, helped with weight management as I approach 40, made "Dieting" simpler, and has been the single best tool I have applied to optimize my life.  I hope this episode helps you start your fasting or intermittent fasting journey.

The "PBM Princess" joins me again on Self-Funded with Spencer on the road, this time in St. Louis at the most recent True Captive Summit, held at Busch Stadium. In this mini-episode, Rachel highlights the convoluted supply chain in Pharmacy Benefit Management.  So many different entities have a hand in the Rx supply chain, from payers, wholesalers, contracts with PBM's, marketing firms, insurance companies, etc, which makes it very difficult to uncover why prescription drug trends continue to increase at a rapid rate. This had led to further scrutiny of PBMs, especially with the question "How does my PBM get paid"? Thank you again to David Voorhees of True Captive for inviting me to this industry-leading event to deliver my podcast on the road.

Your own Stem Cells can be extracted from your bone marrow, concentrated, and then later injected into certain areas to potentially eliminate the need for surgery.  Many people just refer to it as "stem cells", but bone marrow concentrate which contains stem cells is the most accurate way to describe what Regenexx does.   Regenexx can help self-funded employers who have employees which knee injuries, shoulder injuries, back injuries etc. as a possible intermediate step before the last hope is surgery.   Mark is a chiropractor by trade, and became aware of how this concentrate containing stem cells could help with many musculoskeletal injuries that normally would require surgery in traditional Western medical practice.   They have a very high success rate with certain MSK ailments, and some of the latest research even shows how bone marrow concentrate which contains stem cells can help regrow an ACL if torn less than 1 cm apart!   There are limits to its abilities to resolve certain injuries, with the hip joint being one of the least likely locations of the body to positively respond to this bone marrow concentrate.   Make sure to check out part 2 where Mark and I discuss all of the benefits of Fasting!   To learn more check out https://regenexx.com/

What is it like to be a Serial Entrepreneur?  When you hear Mark's story it becomes clear that it takes someone with a combination of drive, intelligence, will, luck, faith, and a sense of humor!  Mark Combs started his career in financial planning, moved into the employee benefits broker world, helped grow an agency into a successful acquisition, and after experiencing nothing but success in his work life thus far, that is when he said, "everything STOPPED working"!  He talks about having to re-invent himself, work through those early challenges, and really struggle until he found the right business model.   Mark is also a genius marketer, so if you are interested in watching his insurance reporting commercial that has over 330k views and was referenced in my intro, watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om0YjZGVBEI