Episodes

"I want to be in our own category." - Rob Gelb I recently joined Rob Gelb, CEO of Vālenz, which is a sponsor of this show, at the Vālenz office in Philadelphia to discuss the story of the company, how it operates in the market currently, and it’s future, which includes the recently announced Vālenz One. Rob describes VālenzONE as a “health plan optimizer”, and we discussed what that means and what it looks like to build a new way for employers to manage their healthcare. We also discussed the ...

“We show…very similar weight loss outcomes to GLP1 in a similar timeframe at a fraction of the cost, but sustainable through behavior change." - Colin Rogers Colin Rogers, VP at Signos, joined me for episode 200! On this special episode, we talked about something I’m very passionate and vocal about: weight loss for everybody. Signos combines continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), our phones, and AI to track longitudinal data and help educate and prompt members to make better health decisions. If...

“You know, Marshall was known in the healthcare space, but there's 100 million Americans who don't know anything about the healthcare space. And those are the people that we're really trying to serve." - Sonja Allen Sonja Allen is the Managing Director of the Marshall Allen Project and the Allen Health Academy, and as many of you know, she was also married to our dear friend, the late Marshall Allen. Sonja joined me to discuss how she’s continuing Marshall’s mission of helping Americans fight ...

“That's the great thing about upfront, all inclusive, transparent specialty care is you eliminate all of that, right? You purchase the service, you never see another bill from it again. You're done." - Dean Jargo Dean Jargo, CEO of Fair Market Health, joined me this week to share why US healthcare desperately needs to be a fair market. We talked about what that means and why it requires us to construct a new healthcare ecosystem, how it enables patients to actually receive better care at a lo...

“Some of the most expensive real estate healthcare real estate. And so by pulling that out of our business model, it allows us to bring care in a very convenient way directly into the homes of our patients." - Jory Zunich This episode combines two topics we speak about frequently on Self-Funded: making healthcare more affordable, and improving access to care for employees. Jory Zunich of Nice Healthcare joined me to explain how Nice is able to provide in-home healthcare affordably, and how the...

“I want other people to know that, like, there's nothing wrong with you. If you have mental health issues, there's help for you and there's life on the other side." - Sims Tillirson This is the second part of my conversation with Sims Tillirson, the first of which released this Tuesday. In this episode, we focused on Sims’ openness about his mental health issues on LinkedIn, his struggle to get off of antidepressants, and destigmatizing conversations about mental health, especially among men. ...

“If you've shied away from showing who you are because you fear that you'll lose sales: people that would not like the authentic version of you are not going to be good customers of you anyway. Put yourself out there, disqualify the people that don't like the real you, and create a bunch of raving fans for yourself." - Sims Tillirson I would honestly be surprised if you listen to this show and haven’t heard of Sims Tillirson; he has one of the best social media presences of anyone in the benef...

If you'd like your question answered on next month's episode, call/text 469-213-6381 and leave us a voicemail/text. This month, we were joined by Rob Gelb in his office in Philadelphia! Welcome to Last Month In Healthcare! Each month, producer Nathaniel joins me to discuss the previous month's podcasts, headlines, and listener-submitted questions. This episode covers healthcare news from April 2025, including: - RFK banning artificial food dyes - Phasing out animal testing - The amount of ...

"Automating those healthy habits is essential." - Chris Burgess Chris Burgess is the creator of the app Affili-Fit, which creates custom workout and diet plans for its users. We talked about what led him to create this app, how it sets itself apart in that market, and how he’s working with employers to use the app for employee wellness programs. Chris never intended to start an app, and he shares what the experience has been like from initial idea, to taking on investment, and now expanding in...

“Each acquisition has its own fingerprints. You kind of think, oh, it's an acquisition. No, it's all different.” - Diane Dooley Diane Dooley, a CHRO and consultant, joined me this week to discuss what HR’s role in mergers & acquisitions is, and why HR is so key to that process. We talked about doing the right due diligence before an acquisition, how to merge cultures, and how to navigate the different reactions that employees inevitably have. Diane and I also dove into the psychology of both t...

"If you're an employer, if someone comes up and knocks on your door, take a second, breathe, and listen to what they have to say." - Christopher Cordon Christopher Cordon joined me this week to talk about something that may initially seem contradictory to what I typically preach: level-funding. Chris shares why worksite benefits sales for employers with under 50 employees led him to level-funding as a solution, and why he’s so passionate about serving that under-served market. Chris has a back...

"If you know how a PBM gets paid, that's the best transparency you can ask for.” - Julie Wasserman Julie Wasserman, VP of Sales for VerusRx, joined me this week to discuss the PBM industry in 2025. If you’re a PBM, how do you gain trust with employers and build plans that work for them? We talk about what every PBM should be doing for their employers, what true transparency looks like, how to reach employees directly through software, and how GLP1s are changing the industry. If you’re a PBM or...

If you'd like your question answered on next month's episode, call/text 469-213-6381 and leave us a voicemail/text. Last Month In Healthcare is officially a video podcast! Each month, producer Nathaniel joins me to discuss the previous month's podcasts, headlines, and listener-submitted questions. This episode covers healthcare news from March 2025, including: - Marty Makary getting confirmed to lead the FDA - The HHS restructuring, including 10,000 job cuts - Texas's response to the MAHA c...

"Insurance is about health and wealth. It protects your health, it should protect your wealth." - Kylie Everhart Kylie Everhart, Chief Growth Officer at Oxbridge Health, joined me to discuss episode benefit plans and how they empower consumers to make better healthcare choices. Episode benefit plans bundle pricing for the entirety of an “episode of care” - for example, if you need a knee surgery, an episode benefit plan would figure out the cost of everything involved in that procedure from sev...

"I think innovation is supposed to be hard. That's why it's innovation.” - Seth Denson “Better consumption requires a lot more education.” - Trey Marinello "Don't compare GLP-1s to working out, because if they were working out, they wouldn't need the GLP1s." - Danish Nagda “I think what RFK has done with the MAHA movement is he's gotten people interested in health again.” - Jonathan Lopez Seth Denson, Trey Marinello, Danish Nagda, and Jonathan Lopez joined me for the most ambitious podcast w...

"Our business is predicated on two things: consolidating things that would otherwise be disparate, and then using that as a trusted chassis to communicate and engage effectively." - Ryan Coplon Ryan Coplon, co-founder of HealthWallet, joined me to discuss why improving member engagement actually reduces health plan expenses, how we get members to understand their healthcare, and what the “perfect” employer health plan would look like. In my opinion, solutions like HealthWallet are something of...

If you'd like your question answered on next month's episode, call/text 469-213-6381 and leave us a voicemail/text. Welcome to our new monthly podcast series, Last Month In Healthcare! Each month, producer Nathaniel joins me to discuss the previous month's podcasts, headlines, and listener-submitted questions. This episode covers healthcare news from February 2025, including: - the start of the Make America Healthy Again commission - executive orders to make healthcare prices more transparen...

"I think that's the difference with a contagious community. Like, I want to bring other people that I like into this community." - Scott Smith Scott Smith, President of True Network Advisors, joins the show for a third time for this podcast filmed at his boathouse in Guntersville, Alabama. Scott and I talked about contagious communities, which Scott defines as a community that people want to share with other people in their life. We also talked about Scott’s list of paradoxes, why he calls his...

"Reversing obesity, reversing diabetes is possible. You don't just have to manage a chronic condition." - Steve Hastings Steve Hastings, Leader of Health Plans at Virta Health, joined me to share Virta’s strategy to help members reverse type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, and obesity. He also shared their findings on just how important food is to our overall health and the power it has as medicine. If you’ve listened to pretty much any episode of Self-Funded with Spencer, you’ve heard my thoughts on...

"If you're not going to be excited when I'm calling you, we're probably not a mutual fit." - Maggie Quinn Maggi Quinn, SVP of Consulting at Intrepid Benefits, joined me to discuss working at an all-female insurance agency, why specialization is so important in today’s market, and some innovative approaches to self-funded healthcare. Maggi shares her journey into insurance, as well as how she found her way to Intrepid, and why the relationship side of the business is the most important to her. ...

"Be kind, be focused on others, be a steward of your craft and take the opportunity to take action.” - Sean Wood Sean Wood, SVP of National Partnerships at ParetoHealth, joined me for a podcast that is far less about captives than it is about being a sales ninja. We talk about getting started in sales, the buyer as a skeptic, collaborative selling, and sales mentorship. Sean was actually a pro basketball player, and he shares how his point guard experience has translated to his career. He shar...

“Whatever your clients find attractive about you and the reason they want to work with you is the exact same reason that a buyer is going to find you attractive and want to acquire your agency.”- Shelby Cowley Shelby Cowley joined me this week to discuss the complicated world of insurance mergers & acquisitions. How do you get the best valuation for your agency? What key metrics are most attractive to buyers? How much does personality impact the value? We answer all of those questions and more...

“Organ transplant is not something that the employer or even the TPAs are necessarily all experts in." - Guy Finley “There are still going to be some situations and some events inside that episode of care that are going to be stop-loss related, so we want the two to work together.” - Robby Kerr Guy Finley and Robby Kerr from HCC joined me in studio for this week’s episode of Self-Funded to discuss covering organ transplants. The costs associated with and frequency of these procedures have grea...

“It's everything. Exposure, knowledge, education, generating new business, solving clients, risk management objectives. It's all here." - John Capasso “And the question comes up year over year, what is the ROI of SIIA? Did we have a legitimate hard dollar return on investment? And the answer is yes, we've always seen a return.” - Amy Gasbarro This week’s episode of Self-Funded was recorded at the SIIA National Conference in September 2024. I spoke on-stage with Amy Gasbarro and John Capasso abo...