Listening In (With Permission): Conversations About Today's Pressing Health Care Topics

In this episode, Andréa Caballero of Catalyst for Payment Reform speaks with Daniel Stein, MD, MBA, President and Founder of Embold Health, about the high and hidden costs of clinical variation, how this shapes the trajectory of care, and what employers and employees can do to identify evidence-based providers and improve outcomes.

In this episode, Andréa Caballero of Catalyst for Payment Reform speaks with Joe Summers, Vice President of New Business Development at Health Delegates, about pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reform, the evolving policy landscape, and how employers can navigate transparency, rebates, and rising drug costs.

In this episode, Andréa Caballero of Catalyst for Payment Reform sits down with Dr. Jason Chirichigno—internal medicine physician, digital-care pioneer, and founding clinical leader at Galileo—to unpack what truly differentiates digital medicine from traditional telemedicine, why employers are urgently seeking new care models, and how high-quality, longitudinal primary care can be delivered virtua...

In this episode, Andréa Caballero of Catalyst for Payment Reform talks with Rachel Block—Program Officer at the Milbank Memorial Fund and longtime federal/state health policy leader—about cost growth targets: what they are, why they matter, and how states, employers, and consumers can use transparent data to bend the healthcare cost curve without harming access to care.

In this episode of Listening (With Permission), Andréa Caballero of Catalyst for Payment Reform sits down with Swati Mathai—CEO and co-founder of XO Health—to explore how employers can finally move beyond the limits of legacy health plans. With more than 25 years of experience advising Fortune 500 employers, leading strategy at UnitedHealthcare and Anthem (now Elevance Health), and now building XO...

In this eye-opening episode of Listening (With Permission), Andréa Caballero of Catalyst for Payment Reform welcomes Dave Chase—visionary founder of Health Rosetta, author, and champion for rebuilding healthcare from the ground up. Together, they explore how employers and benefits leaders can break free from status-quo health plans and reclaim quality care and economic prosperity for their communi...

In this episode of Listening In (With Permission), Andréa Caballero of Catalyst for Payment Reform sits down with Caroline McLeod, a practicing dental clinician and leader at CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, for a deep dive into the overlooked world of oral healthcare—exploring why it's far more than just teeth, and why health leaders need to pay attention.

In this episode of Listening In (With Permission), Andréa connects with Kristof Stremikis, Director, Market Analysis and Insights at the California Healthcare Foundation, for a candid exploration of Medicaid’s evolving landscape and its surprising relevance to the employer-sponsored insurance market.

Episode 142: Beyond Pie Charts: Mike Hanlon on Real-Time Data, Carve Outs, and Employer Power by Catalyst for Payment Reform

In this episode of Listening In (With Permission), Ryan Olmstead sits down with Mike Hanlon, founder and CEO of Abbet, to unpack some of the boldest ideas in health benefits management—and why they might not be so radical after all. Hanlon, whose company builds automation tools for large employer plan sponsors, offers a candid look at why traditional approaches to benefits data and cost management...

In this episode of Listening In (With Permission), Shawn Gremminger, President and CEO of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, joins Andréa Caballero of Catalyst for Payment Reform to dive into a pressing but often overlooked issue: the impact of the 340B Drug Pricing Program on pharmacy costs for employers and healthcare purchasers. The 340B program, originally intended to su...

In this episode of LIWP's Healthcare Highway, Ryan Olmstead of Catalyst for Payment Reform speaks with Kendra Gipson, Director, Vendor Services & Contracts at State of Tennessee. Kendra oversees health plans for over 300,000 employees, and in this engaging conversation, she delves into the impact of recent pharmacy and PBM (Pharmacy Benefit Manager) bills being considered at the Tennessee State Ho...

Patricia Kelmar, Senior Healthcare Campaigns Director for USPIRG, sits down with Andrea Caballero from Catalyst for Payment Reform to discuss one of the most pressing issues in healthcare affordability: facility fees. These hidden charges are adding significant costs to medical bills, even for routine visits and telehealth appointments. With her extensive background in patient safety and healthcar...

Episode 138: Hospital Consolidation Across Geographic Markets with Katie Gudiksen and Brent Fulton by Catalyst for Payment Reform

In this inaugural episode of the Healthcare Highway, CPR's limited podcast series, Ryan Olmstead sits down with Misha Sharp, the Assistant Director of Policy at the 32BJ Health Fund, to explore the Fund's innovative approaches to tackling health care costs. In the episode Misha delves into the Fund’s active role in shaping health care policy, including its involvement in New York’s Fair Pricing Ac...

In the latest episode of Listening In (With Permission), we dive deep into the challenges and potential solutions around high healthcare costs that employers face in states like Florida, Michigan, and Nevada. This conversation brings together Karen van Caulil, Bret Jackson, and Chris Syverson to discuss findings from CPR's recent research, reflecting on state-specific struggles and opportunities f...

On this episode Ryan calls Glen Tullman, CEO of Transcarent, to discuss the untapped power of generative AI in revolutionizing healthcare accessibility and affordability. Glen describes the concept of "wayfinding", which integrates benefits navigation, clinical guidance, and care delivery into a seamless user experience using generative AI as the conductor. This new take on traditional "navigation...

In this episode, Ryan Olmsted from Catalyst for Payment Reform (CPR) sits down with Paul Grady, Principal at Alera Group to discuss the critical role of purchaser activation in mitigating rising costs in healthcare and improving value. Paul and Ryan also delve into the importance of purchasers' involvement in policy-making and how their participation in committees like the Connecticut Cost Growth...

Tune into our latest episode of Listening In (With Permission) as Ashok Subramanian, CEO and founder of Centivo, and Ryan Olmstead dive deep into the critical issues of healthcare affordability and access. Discover groundbreaking insights from Centivo's recent guide, "Breaking Down and Breaking Through the Healthcare Affordability and Access Crisis," which highlights the alarming statistic that 43...

Ryan calls Chris Chan, Chief Value Officer of finHealth, to discuss the pitfalls many self-insured employers face related to their claims review as they try to meet their fiduciary responsibilities. "We're seeing increased scrutiny and requests from employers to say, “Hey, we, we know we have this cycle in the past that we worked where we just automatically approve these things, but we need to be...

In this episode of Listening In (With Permission) Dr. Matthew Resnick, Chief Medical Officer at Embold Health, discusses with Ryan the evolution of quality measurement and improvement in healthcare, emphasizing the importance of aligning care with evidence-based guidelines. He highlights the need for integrating quality and cost considerations to drive progress in the healthcare system and address...

In this podcast episode Dayne and Tim Huke, Chief Growth Officer for Cedar Gate Technologies, explore firsthand the core of CPR's latest case study, Unlocking Value: Diabetes Care Management Vendors' Impact on Quality and Clinical Outcomes for Self-Funded Employers. What are the challenges faced by employers as they navigate the expansive ocean of point solution vendors, seeking answers to the eve...

On our latest podcast episode the tagline is, "Value-Based Contracting: It's Not Magic, It's Math." 🏥 Andréa Caballero calls the co-founding team at Syntax Health, Rachael Jones, Chief Executive Officer, and Emily Walker, Chief Analytics Officer, to demystify the complexities of value-based contracting, and encourage employers to stop treating it as a sideshow, and instead to make it the main eve...

In our latest episode of Listening In (With Permission), Guy calls Rob Andrews, founding CEO of the Health Transformation Alliance (HTA) and former U.S. Congressperson. Listen in as Rob and Guy discuss the challenges and triumphs in healthcare, and how the HTA is bridging the gap between providers and patients, bringing about a new era of convenience and trust in primary care. Listen to how HTA, t...

Part two of our three-part data series. In this insightful podcast episode, we dive deep into the evolving role of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in healthcare purchasing. Join Ryan Olmstead, CPR's Director of Member Services and Jeffrey Hogan, President of Upside Health Advisors, as they discuss the significant changes brought about by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA). The conve...