Episodes

Phil is the Chief Operating Officer of Complete Captive Management Services. He entered the captive world more In 2010, after his 25 years as a Paramedic actually brought him into this world accidentally. Phil was one of the early warriors out there telling the story of Employee Benefits Captives long before they became as popular as they are today. This episode is Part 1 of a 2-Part miniseries on Captives, and Phil spends a big chunk of this podcast explaining what Captives are, as well as de...

Geniece is a Principal at EPIC Insurance Brokers, and has spent her entire year in the employee benefits and consulting space. In this episode, we discussed her perspective on self-funding, as well as her interest in cryptocurrency, nomad capitalism, and her love for music as a choir director at her church. Enjoy! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spencer-harlan-smith/support

Preston was recommended separately to me by two industry peers, so I anticipated that it would be an exciting conversation, and he certainly didn’t disappoint. Not only is he an expert in Employee Benefits & Underwriting, but Preston also used to moonlight as a youth soccer coach for many years and has a son that’s pretty decent at the game ⚽️. He even gave me a few pointers as a newbie soccer coach, the most important of which was don’t put “Coach Spencer” on the back of your shirt. (Too late...

Vince is VP of Sales at Partners MGU, a stop loss managing general underwriter with a unique business model that allows their clients an opportunity to financially benefit from the sale of the company in the future. Vince came on the show to discuss his upbringing in Detroit as the son of a Tailor, his accidental career move into insurance underwriting, and his eventual progression into Stop Loss Sales. Vince is a wealth knowledge, a kind man, and as you can see, a very sharp dresser as well. -...

Matt shares his journey from being an All-American Golfer at the University of Texas, to spending 5 years as a professional golfer, to eventually finding his passion in the insurance world as a Benefits Consultant. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spencer-harlan-smith/support

Dwight Mankin is the President of WebTPA, a third party administrator with the tagline "We Do Weird" because they focus on large group self-funded clients that want to build a customized health plans for their unique needs. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spencer-harlan-smith/support

Colin is a Senior Advisors of Employee Benefits, with over two decades of experience. He takes a technical approach to self-funded, with a degree in Management Information Systems, and he really has a strong finger on the pulse of where the industry is going. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spencer-harlan-smith/support

The product of two parents who were medical doctors, Will knew his future didn’t lie specifically in medicine, but rather found himself consumed by fixing the broken insurance payment model. With successful ventures in payroll, and FSA/HSA/Cobra administration, he’s now set his sights on lobbying for Direct Primary Care with the Employer Coalition for Direct Care. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spencer-harlan-smith/support

Chris Wilson is Executive Vice President of Business Development for Healthcare Highways - a "health plan built on by a high-performance network that delivers quality care, cost savings, and sustainable value." They are aiming to drive down cost and increase quality of outcomes simultaneously by delivering a tailored healthcare network to suit the specific needs of self-funded employers. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spencer-harlan-smith/support

Benjamin Prinzing is the Founder & CEO of Rover Analytics, a company on a mission to help small group employers get access to claims data by scraping member EOB's (Explanation of Benefits). Ben is a serial entrepreneur and started his journey in the healthcare and wellness world over a decade ago, motivated by the passing of a young friend due to a potentially preventable heart condition. There is no question that Rover Analytics is making waves in the self-funded world! https://roveranalytic...

TJ Hutchings is the Manager Director of Employee Benefits for Higginbotham in Fort Worth, Texas. He's one of the absolute best people I know in the insurance industry, and he came on to share his journey into benefits, as well as a very moving story about overcoming a rare form of childhood cancer called "Ewing Sarcoma". --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spencer-harlan-smith/support

Megan Chiarello is Vice President of Marketing for WellNet Healthcare, who provides turnkey level-funded and self-funded solutions to small and mid-market companies. Megan brings a fresh voice and interesting perspective to a more traditional and slow-moving industry, and she is helping spread the word about a great solution for employers who are typically underserved because of their size. It is one thing to explain the technicals about a product or solution, and it is another thing to be abl...

Today, Mike is a Benefits Consultant with Hotchkiss Insurance, but long before that, he had an incredible journey as a troubled teen, then becoming a Youth Pastor for about 15 years, then turning his sights to the private sector to succeed as one of the top sales people in the entire country at a well-known mattress firm. Then, he took his biggest gamble of all, putting his full faith in God to move his whole family to Texas, not knowing where they would live or where he would work. He just kne...

Anthony Russo is an Executive Regional Manager for Voya Financial, and has spent his entire carrier working on the carrier side of the insurance world. Anthony has a wealth of knowledge to share about the value of a partnership with a large, director writer of stop loss like Voya, and he also came on to discuss the upcoming large prescription drugs making waves that employers need to be aware of. Last but not least, Anthony was the first person to give me a shot selling stop loss, and I will b...

Dan Labroad is the founder and CEO of Ovation Health and Life Services, a full service insurance consulting firm, with a specialty in self-funding. Dan is also a serial entrepreneur with a long track record of building successful business, and he bought and sold his first company (a paper route) at 13! Check out his company here - https://ovationlife.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spencer-harlan-smith/support

This episode features Patrick Martell of ClaimDOC. Patrick came on the show to discuss one of my favorite topics - Reference Based Pricing (RBP)! I love the potential of RBP to reduce plan spend, but I am no expert, so I asked Patrick to come to tell us the who, what, why, when, where, and how of moving your self-funded plan to this type of claims payment methodology. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spencer-harlan-smith/support

Andy Near is an ex-professional baseball player, who channeled his playing experience into a successful insurance career, before finding his real calling - becoming a high performance coach for Insurance Producers. Beyond that, Andy is an excellent storyteller and a strong advocate for utilizing content creation to build your personal brand and attract prospect's attention. Website - https://andyneary.com/Podcasts - https://andyneary.com/bullpen-sessions-podcast/ --- Support this podcast: htt...

In this Episode, Craig Clemente, President & COO of Specialty Care Management (SCM), came on the show to discuss the growing problem of Outpatient Dialysis, and how his organization specializes in controlling the cost of this treatment for self-funded employers. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spencer-harlan-smith/support

Rachel Strauss is Director of Strategic Development at EHIM, "national, privately held, woman-owned (WBENC) Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) and Third-Party Administrator that helps organizations proactively contain rising prescription and healthcare costs." Rachel joined me on the show to discuss the role of a PBM, the hidden costs and dark money in this space, as well as EHIM's approach to doing business the right way. She also was the person who recommended to me the Magic Merlin Sleep Suit, ...

In this episode, Seth Denson, Co-Founder and CSO of GDP Advisors joined me on the podcast to help explain Insurance Captives. Seth talks about the right size group, the appropriate risk profile to join a captive, as well as the technical mechanics of how they work. In addition to GDP Advisors, Seth is authored the book "The Cure: A Blueprint for Solving America’s Healthcare Crisis", available where all books are sold. Seth is a regular contributor as a market analyst for Fox News, CNN, OANN, Ne...

Jonathan Lopez, Ed.D - aka "Dr. J-Lo" joins me on this episode to cover the role of the Third Party Administrator from a different perspective than covered previously. He views the role of the TPA as the "Adjudicator", and explains what he means using a sweet "John Wick" analogy! Jonathan has an interesting story, having gotten his undergrad degree in Kinesiology, then attending OCS with the Marine Corps, before going back to complete his Doctorate in Education Leadership. Oh, and he also used ...

Yo, what up gang, Spencer here… Thanks for checking out “Self-Funded with Spencer”, a podcast that seeks to educate around, and advocate for, the self-funded health insurance marketplace. It has been said that the best defense against tyranny is a well-armed populace, and my goal is to arm you with information to defend against the tyranny of being fully insured! I appreciate you stopping by. Be sure to subscribe. And I’ll talk to you soon! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotif...

Episode 7 of "Self-Funded w/ Spencer" with the hardest working person in employee benefits - Lester J. Morales, Founder and CEO of Next Impact! Lester is seemingly everywhere these days, both literally and virtually, as one of the most sought after and knowledgeable consultants in the self-funded space. His passion, insight, and enthusiasm are infectious, and it was a pleasure to get to spend an hour with him to hear his story. Lester joined me on the podcast specifically to discuss the role o...

We have approached self-funding from many different insurance industry angles so far, but the most crucial vantage point is discussed in this episode with Tommy Fulmer - The EMPLOYER's perspective. Tommy is responsible for accounting and finance at The Delta Companies, who has been self-funded since 2012. He discusses his experience budgeting for monthly claims fluctuations, projecting future plan costs, and the decision-making balance that has to be struck between finance and HR. --- Support...