Join host Spencer Smith on another episode of Self-Funded with Spencer, as he welcomes the PBM Princess, Rachel Strauss from EHIM. In this engaging and informative podcast episode, Rachel shares valuable insights about the Pharmacy Benefits Management industry and EHIM's merger with ProCare Rx. Rachel and Spencer also take a deep dive into the importance of transparency in PBMs and how it affects the relationship between PBM and clients. Rachel shares her journey of becoming a PBM consultant and...
May 02, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 92
How to Find Money in Medical Bill Errors - Zoe Holderness - Co-Founder of Slingshot Zoe Holderness, the CTO and co-founder of Slingshot, recently appeared on the podcast, Self-Funded with Spencer featuring host Spencer Smith. Slingshot is a software company that specializes in auditing medical bills. They automatically monitor every claim that comes through for an employer, finding savings and overcharges both for the plan and member. Zoe grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina, and later attended ...
Apr 25, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 91
How Artificial Intelligence is Powering the Future of Risk with Matt Weaver of Gradient AI In this episode of "Self-Funded with Spencer," host Spencer Smith chats with Matt Weaver, Director of Sales for Gradient AI, about Artificial Intelligence in underwriting tools for self-funding and other stop-loss initiatives. Gradient AI helps underwriters make better assessments of risk, especially when limited loss and claims history exists, or even in the potential absence of claims data altogether. Th...
Apr 18, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 90
A Professional's Guide to Bespoke Fashion in 2023 - Will Russ - R6 Clothier Get ready to elevate your fashion game with Spencer Smith and his guest, the founder of R6 Clothier, Will Russ. In this exciting episode, they discuss men's fashion in a professional setting, sharing insights from Will's experience in door-to-door sales and the importance of relationships and credibility in starting a successful clothing business. They delve into the mechanics of setting up a custom clothing business, di...
Apr 11, 2023•59 min•Season 1Ep. 89
Ross Conner, CIC, CRM is a Partner at Hotchkiss Insurance in Fort Worth, TX, where he focuses on helping middle market and franchise businesses grow through a compliant, consistent, and streamlined risk management program. Oh, and Ross is in Property and Casualty, not Employee Benefits. Now you might ask what is a P&C guy doing on a self-funded benefits podcast?! Well besides being hilarious (follow him on LinkedIn here ----> https://www.linkedin.com/in/ross-conner-cic-crm-9b1189a/ ) and ...
Apr 04, 2023•55 min•Season 1Ep. 88
ICHRA Explained - Everything You Need to Know About Individual Coverage HRA's with Kyle Estep Self-Funded with Spencer, hosted by Spencer Smith, is a podcast for those looking to strategically navigate the complex landscape of health insurance. In this episode, Spencer speaks with guest Kyle Estep from Take Command Health. Kyle Estep is the VP of Growth for Take Command Health. Kyle spent 8 years of his career early on consulting for Deloitte, one of the top consulting firms in the world. He als...
Mar 28, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 87
Welcome to Self-Funded with Spencer, a podcast that explores how employers can most effectively manage their health plan costs by "Self-Funding" their insurance. In this episode, Spencer talks to Kari L. Niblack, Esq. from Blackwell Captive Solutions, a risk attorney with 30+ years of experience in the business. Kari shares how her law career prepared her for sales, and her experience with the obstacles faced by women in the benefits industry, especially those seeking leadership positions. Perso...
Mar 21, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 86
This is a great episode for anyone interested in what it is like to succeed within the largest insurance brokerage in the United States. Travis is EVP at Marsh McLennan Agency (MMA). Travis was an exceptional wrestler in high school but hung up his wrestling singlet in college, where he studied general business at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. Like quite a few of my guests in the past, Travis has a thrill-seeking side, being an avid skydiver AND scuba diver, where he jokingly says to ...
Mar 14, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 85
The Black & White Truth with Kareim Cade and Andy Neary. This episode features the duo of: 1) Kareim Cade - Owner and CEO of the Great Lakes Benefits Group 2) Andy Neary - Founder of Complete Game Consulting Together they make up a partnership called "The Black & White Truth". Their program has 3 pillars: Modernize how Salespeople are Trained Redefining Leadership Encourage Diversity of Thought Black & White Truth combines collaborative coaching, on-site workshops for insurance agenc...
Feb 28, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 84
Jason Scott is First Vice President for Alliant Insurance Services in Dallas, TX. Jason originally learned the art of sales from his Dad, who taught him how to sell without being "sales-y". He also taught Jason the power of getting to the yes or the no as fast as possible, because the "maybe's" are career killers. His Dad was actually instrumental in helping popularize a seasoning in the United States called "Tajin", which is a mixture of lime, chili powder, and salt, and is very popular within ...
Feb 22, 2023•55 min•Season 1Ep. 83
Can one app manage pricing, communications, and payments for health plans? In short, YES! Medxoom "unifies member identity, pricing, communication and payments into one, easy-to-use app". For Episode 82, my guest is James the EVP of Strategy and Growth for MedXoom. His hobbies are triathlons, for which he trains 16-20 hours a week to prepare for events, and scuba diving. Jame calls himself "a back-of-the-pack triathlete", and recently he had to back out of a full Ironman race in Florida about 36...
Feb 14, 2023•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 82
Join me as I sat down with Ahmed Marmoush, Founder and CEO of Handl Health to hear his story, and learn more about Handl Health. Ahmed was born in Egypt but grew up in New Zealand, where he studied at the University of Auckland and received a Bachelor of Pharmacy. He then went to work at a Hospital in New Zealand as a clinical pharmacist where he got to experience everything from primary care in the field to geriatric care in a hospital setting. This gave him a ton of exposure to healthcare oper...
Jan 31, 2023•56 min•Season 1Ep. 81
This episode is focused on the topic of Direct Primary Care, also known as "DPC". The DPC model transforms primary care into a membership-based model, rather than the traditional fee-for-service model. The goal is to provide all of the same routine services that patients receive from their primary care physician but eliminate the incentive for fast patient turnover, which often leads to a decrease in the quality of care provided. Our guest, Andy Bonner, the President & CEO of Healthcare2U, s...
Jan 24, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 80
This episode is all about entrepreneurship. The highs and the lows, and everything in between. Gabe knew he was going to be an entrepreneur from an early age, recalling that he didn't get the best grades, didn't love to follow rules, and even recounts knowing at the age of 14 he was going to build his own businesses. He studied entrepreneurship in college at Baylor University, but outside of making friends and meeting his wife there, his belief that he would have been better off taking the $150k...
Jan 17, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 79
Josh Sullivan is a Territory Manager for Morgan White Group, which creates and delivers innovative insurance products to the marketplace. Even though they have a full suite of solutions, for today's episode, we specifically focused on their Gap Supplemental Health Plan called the "Premium Saver Plan". I have always been intrigued by the financials of a Gap Health Plan, which aims to lower the overall cost of an employer-sponsored health plan by providing a way to bridge the "gap" between the fir...
Jan 12, 2023•53 min•Season 1Ep. 78
There is a better way to construct a healthcare plan, and that is why I had Chris Hamilton, Partner at Hotchkiss Insurance back on the @SelfFunded with Spencer podcast after spending the last episode discussing Sales Best Practices only. You can view Chris' episode on Sales mastery here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrdbOgRxYis&t=1205s Chris came from the finance world before coming to benefits, and what drew him to our industry was that he kept seeing very sophisticated employers with h...
Jan 04, 2023•58 min•Season 1Ep. 77
Entrepreneurship in Autism Therapy - Derek Barrows of Belay On Autism Services Derek is the Founder and CEO of Belay On Autism Services, which offers Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy for children diagnosed with autism in North Texas. In this episode, Derek shares information about applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy, a widely used approach that focuses on reinforcing positive behaviors and teaching new skills. While ABA has been shown to be effective for many children with autism, it'...
Dec 29, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 76
Brian is an AVP of Business Development at Goodroot. "Goodroot is a community of companies committed to reinventing healthcare one system at a time." In this episode, we specifically focus on two of the solutions that Brian represents: 1. AlignRx, which is their pharmacy consulting arm for larger employers who need individualized expertise for their unique situations. 2. CoeoRx, which has prenegotiated Pharmacy benefit contracts and custom pharmacy benefit solutions for employers that offers "ch...
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 75
How to Become Unstoppable in SaaS with TK Kader TK Kader is my latest guest on the @SelfFunded with Spencer podcast, where we discussed his successful track record as a SaaS entrepreneur, his company called "Unstoppable" where he helps other early-stage SaaS business owners scale their companies, as well as the outstanding YouTube channel that has over 36k+ subscribers, 1M+ views, 100k+ hours of watch time. TK is also an incredibly cool and down-to-earth guy, even gracious enough to come on my s...
Dec 13, 2022•57 min•Season 1Ep. 74
I sat down with the CEO and Founder, Priscilla Romans to discuss the origin story of Graith Care, and how they are fighting every single day on behalf of Americans to ensure they are getting the best possible care for their unique situation. Patient Advocacy is all about empowering patients to regain control of their healthcare decisions. When they have informed consent, and are presented with all of their options, the patient should ultimately be able to make the decision that is best for them....
Nov 29, 2022•52 min•Season 1Ep. 73
A Fiduciary's Guide to Data Analytics with Agility Innovation Partners. This episode is a follow-up to my video "The Consolidated Appropriations Act 101 - Comply or Die?" The Consolidated Appropriations Act, otherwise known as the CAA, established protections for consumers related to surprise billing and transparency in health care. Upcoming fines can and will be heavy, amounting to $100/day PER EMPLOYEE, which is substantially greater than the fines hospitals receiving for being non-compliant, ...
Nov 17, 2022•45 min•Season 1Ep. 72
The Consolidated Appropriations Act 101 - Comply or Die? The Consolidated Appropriations Act, otherwise known as the CAA, established protections for consumers related to surprise billing and transparency in health care. Upcoming fines can and will be heavy, amounting to $100/day PER EMPLOYEE, which is substantially greater than the fines hospitals receiving for being non-compliant, which was only $300 total day. The goal for employers immediately is not to be perfect by 12/27/22, but to at leas...
Nov 15, 2022•42 min•Season 1Ep. 71
Sarah is the Founder and CEO of Predictabill, a company that allows you to "compare the health insurance you have with what you could get, and see what’s different since last year." With Predictabill you can analyze options from your employer (including COBRA), your spouse’s employer, healthcare.gov, and more. Sarah spent 8 years in investment banking, and her area of expertise during this time was evaluating the impact that an organization's insurance expenses had on the valuation of the busine...
Nov 08, 2022•57 min•Season 1Ep. 70
Cariloop provides coaching and support for the caregiver. Cariloop has been recently recognized as number 40 in the "Dallas 100", which means they are the 40th fastest growing company in Dallas/Fort Worth! In this episode, I sat down with their co-founder and CEO, Michael Walsh to learn more about Cariloop, as well as to hear his personal story of entrepreneurship. The Cariloop tagline is "take care of your loved ones with an experienced Care Coach in your corner." and they consider themselves t...
Nov 03, 2022•53 min•Season 1Ep. 69
Sales Mastery - Part 3 - Ryan Miller - Sales Performance Coach Ryan Miller is a highly sought after sales performance coach, and I am grateful that he helped me close out the 3-part miniseries of my podcast on "Sales Mastery" Ryan started off selling high-end wheels/rims for custom cars, and didn't discover the world of benefits until later in life. He also has overcome numerous personal challenges, from having a strained relationship with his father, developing bad habits in his teens and 20's ...
Nov 01, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 68
Chris Hamilton is a Partner at Hotchkiss Insurance. He is also one of the best sales consultants I have met in the employee benefits industry, for which many of his peers agree. Chris, like me, didn't get into sales until his 30's, having spent the bulk of his career before that in investment banking. His ability to discuss financials, coupled with his experience in Mergers and Acquisitions, helped prepare Chris to have very complex conversations with business owners. Chris is the antithesis of ...
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Season 1Ep. 67
Sales Mastery - Part 1 - Jennifer Bryson - Mercer This is the first installment of a 3-part series dedicated to sales mastery. Not only is Jennifer Bryson an absolutely lovely human being, she is always a killer producer! She had a career-defining year in 2021 for Mercer and we talked about everything from how she builds long standing relationships, to her keen recognition of when to pull in other rockstars on her team to help solve big problems for her clients. Although Jennifer and my next two...
Oct 18, 2022•49 min•Season 1Ep. 66
Paul Carter is the Chairman/CFO of HMA. Hawaii Mainland Administrators (HMA) is a full service TPA that seeks to be one of the premier managed healthcare organizations in the country through technology and information-based managed care. We covered a ton of info in an hour, and this episode will be especially for my self-funded gurus out there.
Oct 12, 2022•58 min•Season 1Ep. 65
The Metaverse for Business with John Beaman of the Elevare Club. In this episode we cover the Elevare Club, the Metaverse, digital transformation, digital real estate, the blockchain, NFT's and more! John not only has a undergraduate degree and an MBA, but he is also certified in something called "Digital Transformation". What that means is he can help small business owners digitize their business, moving from the analog world of paper documents and wet signatures, into the digital world of webs...
Oct 04, 2022•46 min•Season 1Ep. 64
Your Network is Your Net Worth - Scott Smith - TRUE Network Advisors. I took the podcast on the road to Guntersville, Alabama, home of Scott Smith and his company - TRUE Network Advisors. TRUE is a coalition of employee benefits brokers, seeking to enhance their network and collaborate with other strategic benefits advisors to grow their practices. TRUE is unique in that they have created an extraordinary engaging member experience, with both virtual and in-person events that are all the buzz in...
Sep 27, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 63
