The ShiftShapers Podcast
Change either paralyzes or energizes - the choice is yours. Hear from businesses and entrepreneurs who have become energized and who have profited by shaping the shifts in their markets and practices. Become a SHIFTSHAPERS INSIDER and get our latest download, advance notice of all podcasts, podcast summaries, and special INSIDER-ONLY content. INSIDER SIGN UP
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EP 556 When Health Spending Slows For The Wrong Reason - with Ken Terry
<p>A “slowdown” in healthcare spending sounds like relief until you ask one uncomfortable question: what if the numbers look better because people are quietly priced out of care? We sit down with award-winning healthcare journalist and author Ken Terry to unpack why CMS spending projections can hide a worsening healthcare affordability crisis, especially as disposable income drops and families rank housing and groceries ahead of doctor visits they still need.<br/><br/>We dig into the growing gap between coverage and access: about 90% of Americans have health insurance, yet only around half believe they can afford the care and pres...
EP 555 Why AI Can Expand Behavioral Healthcare Access - with Ken Resnicow
<p>You can have the best doctors in the world and still feel alone at 3 a.m. when anxiety spikes, motivation collapses, or a hard habit shows up again. That’s the gap we tackle with Dr. Ken Resnicow, one of the world’s leading behavioral scientists and a pioneer of motivational interviewing, now building therapeutic AI at Chronologics to extend care beyond the clinic.<br/><br/>We get specific about what actually changes behavior and why health information alone usually isn’t enough. Ken breaks down “high-quality motivation” and how patient-centered counseling helps people find their own reasons to change, bu...
EP 553 Why Employees Want Control Of Health Insurance - with Jack Hooper
<p>The traditional group health plan has been the default for decades, but the people using it are sending a loud signal that the model is wearing thin. When we look at employee sentiment, the headline is simple and disruptive: a majority of workers want control over their health insurance choices, and only a small slice say their employer should be the one deciding. That shift gets even sharper with younger employees who walk into work expecting options, not a single plan and a shrug.<br/><br/>I sit down with Jack Hooper, founder and CEO of Take Command Health...
EP 553 Change Leadership That Actually Works - with Leslie Ellis
<p>Your plan can be “on time and on budget” and still be headed for failure. We sit down with Leslie Ellis, founder of Meaningful Change Consulting, to get brutally clear on why complex change initiatives derail even when leadership teams believe they’re doing everything right. If you’ve ever watched a transformation turn into a flurry of templates, communications, and training while the real problems stay untouched, this conversation names what’s missing and what to do about it.<br/><br/>We dig into the difference between change management tasks and true change leadership: making trade-offs visible, building shared cla...
EP 552 When Brokers Become ERISA Targets - with Ron Peck
<p>The next big lawsuit headline in employee benefits may not name the employer first. It may name the broker.<br/><br/>We sit down with Ron Peck, Chief Legal Officer at The PHIA Group, to make sense of rising ERISA fiduciary liability pressure on self-funded health plans and the advisors who support them. The twist Ron keeps coming back to is that the legal “ingredients” have been around for years, from retirement plan cases to suits targeting TPAs and other service providers. What’s changing is the target list, plus the creativity of plaintiffs’ firms applying an established ERISA playbook...
EP 551 Cybersecurity Reality Check - with Daniel Metcalf
<p>Cybercriminals don’t need to “hack” our systems when they can trick someone into handing over access, and AI is making those tricks more realistic and scalable. We talk with Daniel Metcalfe of Cyberfin about where benefits advisors are most exposed and the layered, practical steps that reduce breach risk while still letting teams use AI responsibly. <br/><br/>• why employee and employer data is “gold” to attackers <br/>• how advisors get used as a pathway to bigger targets <br/>• why MFA and antivirus alone don’t stop social engineering <br/>• where agencies are most vulnerable today: email credentials and tool connections <br...
EP 550 Mindset Over Benefits - with Lizzie Benton
<p>The fastest way to waste a benefits budget is to ignore the beliefs running the workplace. If employees aren’t engaging with expensive benefits plans, the problem may not be the coverage or the vendor list. It may be the everyday mindset that shapes trust, motivation, and how safe people feel speaking up.<br/><br/>We sit down with Lizzie Benton, founder of Libertymind, to unpack what “mindset” really means inside an organization and how it quietly becomes culture through habits, language, and leadership norms. We explore why values on a wall don’t matter if the lived experience signals...
EP 549 Building A Better Provider Network - with Jarred Pierce
<p>We talk with Jared Pierce about why many provider networks run on outdated contracts and why that breaks trust for providers, members, and plan sponsors. We dig into how Unity builds a primary, provider-aligned network for self-funded plans that protects access while still driving real savings. <br/>• Jared’s early start building PPO networks at 17 and how it shaped his view of the system <br/>• Why legacy PPO networks “live off old paper” and what that means for pricing and trust <br/>• How reference-based pricing can create confusion, appeals, and members turned away <br/>• What “RBP-level reimbursement with real contracts” looks lik...
EP 548 All You Can Eat Compliance - with Carol Taylor
<p>We bring compliance specialist Carol Taylor back to unpack why employers keep getting blindsided by benefit plan obligations like RXDC reporting, PBM disclosures, and fiduciary duties under ERISA. We map the real-world risks, the paperwork traps that cause rejected filings, and the simple audit habits that keep penalties from stacking up. <br/>• RXDC reporting basics and why it exists <br/>• why employers still miss RXDC years later <br/>• where legal responsibility lands even when vendors file <br/>• practical steps for HIOS access and employer uploads <br/>• CAA 2026 expansion of PBM disclosure and rebate rules <br/>• what PBM transparency can reveal about prici...
EP 547 New "Captivated Health" Book - with Mark Gaunya
<p>We talk with Mark Gaunya about why employer health insurance often feels like a casino where the house wins and how employers can flip the odds with transparency, ownership, and smarter plan design. </p><p>We break down how captive risk sharing works, what it takes to implement, and the real financial and employee-experience wins that come from getting off the less bad renewal hamster wheel. <br/>• Why the US healthcare system “works” as designed for rulemakers, not end users <br/>• How the less bad renewal cycle traps employers without claims data and transparency <br/>• Why Mark wrote Captivated Health and how...
