MedBen recently had the honor to welcome some of the most respected names in the benefits management industry. At the invitation-only 2024 Benefits Advisory Conference on January 26, attending brokers learned about health plan innovations that will help self-funded employers reduce their health care spend while maintaining or even improving quality.
MedBen President & CEO Kurt Harden opened the event with an overview of MedBen Rx’s pharmacy solutions, including ACI pricing, benefit preservation, and comparative effectiveness. He also challenged the perceived value of PBM administrative and rebate guarantees.
Adam Russo, Co-Founder and CEO of The Phia Group, discussed the current and future state of health plan design and administration. Phia is nationally recognized as a leader in health care cost containment … but Russo says that the company’s approach comes down to simply understanding and reacting to a plan’s claims data.
“With a sample detailed review of plan claim data, it tells you the whole story regarding pricing, utilization, overcharges, and risk management,” Russo observed. “Then you can design the plan to meet the needs of the population.”
From Profero Team, Founder & CEO Marc Sweeney and Director of Precision Medicine Cynthia Yu explained Pharmacogenics, which uses genetic testing to determine how an individual will respond to particular drugs. This innovation optimizes patient outcomes while minimizing trial and error and reducing side effects.
“Pharmacogenomics can yield savings with improved drug selection and increased adherence,” Sweeney noted. “Additionally, medical-related absenteeism and re-hospitalizations can be significantly reduced.”
The final presenter, Tokio Marine HCC Senior Vice President Robby Kerr, addressed the current state of the stop-loss market. Million-dollar-plus claims have greatly accelerated in recent years, and specialty drugs and gene therapies will further impact health care costs. Kerr emphasized cost containment measures to keep costs in check.
MedBen clients will be getting additional information about these and other cost-saving innovations in future e-briefs newsletters. Additionally, we will announce 2024 MedBen University (MBU) events in an upcoming issue, so be on the lookout soon!