Self-Funded

Private Equity Explained  What is it?   How does it work?  How do you get a job in private equity?  When do you use equity vs debt?   What types of firms should go public rather than stay private?   What are the stages of growth that impact capital requirements?   All of these questions and more are answered in Episode 44 of "Self-Funded with Spencer", featuring Kyle Coots, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Miramar Equity Partners.   Kyle and I have known each other for almost 30 years, and we reconnected after he was vetting an investment opportunity for his Private Equity firm in the self-funded space.  As you can see from this episode, he is an absolutely wealth of knowledge in this space, and even breaks it down at a level that a beginner can understand.

Life Rewards Effort.  Randy & I discussed Leadership, Faith, Family, Personal Growth, Managing Career Success, Being a Star Hurdler in High School, Moving from CA to TX, Advice for Young Salespeople, and the roles both of our Wives have played in making us the men we are today.  From a random meeting at a children's play-place called "Cheeky Monkey" two years ago during the pandemic, to having Randy sit down this week for the podcast, it has been an interesting two years for both of us.

“Never Pay the First Bill”  This is the title of Marshall Allen’s extraordinary book, which empowers working Americans to fight back against unfair medical billing practices and WIN.   Marshall came on Self-Funded with Spencer to discuss:   ✍️ His investigative journalism career  📚 His Substack newsletter  📽 His upcoming video series  👨‍⚖️ How to win in small claims court  🏥 His son’s recent ER visit  ⛪️ His faith and time in ministry  🏛 His new job in the federal gov  📕 and of course, the book!   “Never Pay the First Bill” is a must for the tens of millions of Americans struggling to figure out why their medical care costs so much.   It’s not just healthcare #inflation. There’s also rampant fraud, waste, abuse, up-coding, and even billing for services NOT rendered.   Marshall is educating David on how to fight Goliath, and WIN.  It’s time for us to pick that fight!

Allergy season, muscle cars, space shuttle launches...and Dependent Eligibility Audits?     Keith Bird, VP of Sales for AmWINS came on the Self-Funded with Spencer Podcast to discuss the fiduciary responsibility that Self-Funded Employers have to ensure the dependents enrolled on their health plan are eligible to be there.     Unless you have a good way of validating the eligibility of enrollees manually (you probably don't) then you likely have dependents on your plan today that are not supposed to be there.   Keith estimates that about 3% of dependents on average on any given plan are not eligible.  Whether it is a person enrolled as a spouse when they actually aren't married, or an enrolled child on the plan that turns out to be a cousin, the cost of healthcare is so great that many people find the need to defraud their employers for coverage.

Captives, keynote speaking, employee education, client testimonials, problem-solving, and having skin in the game with your customers, were a few of the many topics Robert Gelb, David Voorhees and I discussed during the final installment of the Self-Funded w/Spencer podcast on the road at the True Captive conference.  Here is the registration link for the next Future of Benefits in Business conference in St. Louis, MO at Busch Stadium on 4/12/22.  https://truecaptive.com/st-louis-registration/ https://truecaptive.com/ https://www.valenzhealth.com/

How much does surgery cost?  How good is my surgeon?  Sanjay Prasad MD sits down with me to discuss the answers to both of those questions and more.   Sanjay is an Ear, Nose, and Throat surgeon by trade, the Author of "Resetting Healthcare", and the founder of SurgiQuality.   Sanjay is a brilliant man on a mission to create more transparency for patients around the ability of their surgeon, and the price the member will pay.  

"Healthcare is Fixed" - That is the message Glenn Fisher, serial entrepreneur and Managing Partner of NavMD, is delivering to the employee benefits world.  We talk data analytics, acting on these insights, FinTech, and why Glenn was attracted to the Healthcare space initially.  Beyond the technical nature of his business, he stresses the importance of delivering value to your customer no matter what you do.  We round out the discussion on pharmacy, consulting, reference based pricing, captives, and how the Shine Solar testimonial was one of the key takeaways of the conference for Glenn.  Here is the registration link for the next Future of Benefits in Business conference in St. Louis, MO at Busch Stadium on 4/12/22.  https://truecaptive.com/st-louis-registration/ https://www.navmd.com/

Rachel Strauss joined me in OKC to discuss the vital role of a transparent PBM, such as her employer EHIM.  She has been a previous podcast guest (Episode 10), and she is one of the most knowledge people when it comes to Pharmacy Benefit Management. She implores employers to ask the simple question, "How does my PBM get paid"?  Rachel also relates the problem of "rebates", to getting money back on your tax return.  Is it really better to overpay, and then wait 12 months to get money back? She sees the market is now more open to change, and the "No Surprises" act is a step in the right direction towards more transparency in the healthcare marketplace. Hope you enjoy!

Modern marketing is evolving, and Trey Hinson of Ocozzio shares everything you need to know about this changing landscape. We covered an array of topics from Self-Funding, Bourbon, LinkedIn Sponsored Posts, The Power of Video for Marketing, Personalized Prospecting, the Decentralization of Healthcare Solutions, Storytelling, and so much more! This was one of the most difficult episodes to edit because there was so much great content.  I ended up making 4 promo clips instead of 1!

In installment 3 of my coverage of the True Captive Summit, I sit down with the CEO of Vālenz®, Robert Gelb. "Vālenz® simplifies the complexities of self-insurance for employers through a steadfast commitment to data transparency and decision enablement". Rob is quickly becoming one of my favorite people in Employee Benefits because of his charisma, his focus on company culture, and the "yes, and" mentality he brought over from studying improv to apply to the business he runs. In this episode we cover, keynote speaking, overcoming travel issues, music as an aid in preparation, passion for what you do, and ultimately how to deliver best in class benefit design and selection. https://www.valenzhealth.com/