(FOR MEMBERS ONLY)

TITLE: Harnessing Resilience as Your Superpower

What if you could build resilience as a renewable fuel, and it had nothing to do with bouncing back or getting on with it? Join Dr. Denniston for an eye-opening session that will leave you, your team, and the organizations you serve armed with secret tools to stave off stress and amplify energy even during the most stressful times.

Attendees will learn how to:

• • • • Use curiosity and a growth mindset as endurance builders for you and your team
      • Cultivate courage and grit to increase flexibility
      • Mine for joy to build leverage in chaos
      • Discover your resilience-amplifying true north

(FOR MEMBERS ONLY)

Session 1

TITLE: Harnessing Resilience as Your Superpower

SPEAKER: Heather Denniston

Benefits and healthcare continue to evolve and can create undue stress for you, your team, and employees. Following Heather’s presentation, join us for a spirited interactive conversation in lessons learnt from being on the ground supporting resilience and wellness in the workplace. Both can be learned and are personal journeys. These skills and best practices are life long and can help you and your teams during the worst and best of times.

Session 2

TITLE: Health Action Council’s Health Plan Annual Aggregate Assessment Report

Join this interactive presentation to learn how stratified Health Action Council data can help you improve your population’s health outcomes and manage their continuum of health. We will narrow your focus to a few key metrics that will assist in mitigating risk and lowering costs within your population to maintain and improve its health status. These metrics are key to achieving and sustaining superior satisfaction, preserving and improving the population’s health, and managing cost and risk. As you look ahead to 2026 and review strategies to lower your benefit costs and improve productivity, examine these key performance metrics.

(FOR MEMBERS ONLY)

Session 1

TITLE: Using Personas to Foster Employee Engagement

SPEAKER: Tami Simon

In our world where adult attention spans are approximately 8 seconds it is essential to personalize and simplify communications to improve employee engagement. This will enhance efficiency and productivity, create a positive work environment, and assist with building strong relationships. It also impacts how an employee and their dependents use their benefits and interact with the healthcare system. We have learned that increased employee engagement in their healthcare decisions improves outcomes. This hands-on workshop will introduce using “personas” as an employee benefits communication strategy. We’ll explore examples of common personas, the data you will likely use to identify personas for your population, and various communication distribution channels you’ll want to consider. Following a short tutorial, you will interact and learn from peers as you apply your lessons learned to a case study.

Session 2 

TITLE: Taking Action

Join this interactive session to share how data has helped you focus efforts to improve your population’s health outcomes and manage their continuum of health. Be prepared to share your observations, learnings, and thoughts on what has and has not improved health outcomes, enhanced employee and dependent experience and satisfaction, and managed short and long-term risk. What data are you looking at? How are you using it? How are you using data to support and communicate the need to eliminate, enhance, and add to your benefits portfolio to manage your populations’ risk? What metrics are you measuring to determine success and need for improvement?

(FOR MEMBERS ONLY)

TITLE: The Mental Game of Winners

Charles knows the highs of success and the lows of defeat. As an experienced and decorated athlete, he was familiar with the challenges life throws at us and had mastered control of his mind as well as his physical body—or so he thought! When a devastating injury took away his future in track, this life-altering event sent him into a downward spiral of anxiety and depression.   

He dove into learning the importance of self-care and wellness practices to create a mindset shift. Charles has committed himself to becoming the best version of himself and helping others through education on mental health awareness and coping skills to develop resilience, post-traumatic growth, and well-being.  

Charles will:  

• • • • Identify what mental health is and what it isn’t 
      • Discuss the importance of self-care and its impact on your future and well-being
      • Provide tools, guidance, and effective strategies for taking ownership of your mental health and wellness
      • Share ways to become mentally tough and engage in a mental “tune-up”
      • Suggest ways to incorporate mental health awareness with team members, coworkers, and staff 

Session 1

TITLE: The Impact of Mental Health Disorders on Workplace Productivity and Employer Strategies

SPEAKER: Irina Smith, Abbvie & Dr. Andrew Crighton, Crighton Consulting Group 

Mental health is an integral part of employee overall well-being. It can affect not only physical health but also workplace performance. Mental health issues can lead to reduced productivity, poor communication, and social withdrawal. By prioritizing mental health in the workplace, employees can flourish, and businesses thrive. 

Developing a plan to assist employees involves analyzing the medical and pharmacy data, productivity/presenteeism/absenteeism data, organizational impact, and cost trends.   

Learning how to create a culture and strategies where employees feel safe and supported is a meaningful step to preventing small problems from escalating into larger issues. Healthier and happier employees positively impact both employee retention and workforce productivity. 

Session 2

TITLE: Navigating Welfare Plans

SPEAKER: Jeffrey R. Spencer, Ciuni & Panichi

Most private sector employers’ welfare plans are subject to numerous IRS tax reporting and ERISA disclosure rules. These rules are being vigorously enforced by both the IRS and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL).

Employers can face significant monetary penalties for not complying with reporting and disclosure requirements. It is vital that employers understand and comply with these rules.

Compliance areas to be covered include written welfare plan document requirements and utilizing a “wrap” welfare plan document design; welfare plan disclosure requirements such as Summary Plan Descriptions, Summary of Material Modifications, and Summary Annual Reports; and welfare plan annual tax reporting requirements such as IRS Forms 5500 and 720.

Session 1

TITLE: Shaping an Improved Future of Women’s Health

SPEAKER: Thoung Broaden, Deloitte and Andrew Coccia, Deloitte

This session explores the increasing momentum within the health ecosystem to enhance women’s health outcomes. It delves into the current state and historical context of women’s health, highlighting progress in policy, research, and healthcare delivery models. The presentation addresses future opportunities and challenges, emphasizing emerging trends, the need to address disparities, and the importance of collaboration and partnerships. Ultimately, it underscores the critical need for continued investment and focus on women’s health to achieve broader health equity and improved outcomes for all.

Session 2 

TITLE: Awareness Drives Positive Clinical Outcomes

SPEAKER: Kelly Chillingworth

The Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) Industry is currently facing numerous challenges. 

Starting with scrutinizing PBM business models (‘big 3’ and ‘transparent’ PBMs) and emerging open market alternatives, attendees will learn how to leverage ‘cost-plus’ pharmacies, which can significantly reduce medication costs. We’ll review current legal challenges and examine how rebates, often touted as cost-saving mechanisms, contribute to inflationary pressures. Critical issues impacting the industry will be unpacked and replacement models that could lead to a paradigm shift in the PBM model discussed.    

This session will demonstrate the need for transparency and innovative strategies to pave the way for a more efficient and patient-centric approach. 

Session 3

TITLE: Health Action Council’s Health Plan Annual Aggregate Assessment Report

(For Brokers & Consultants Only)

It is important to hear what your clients are learning. Join this interactive presentation to understand how stratified Health Action Council data can help you improve your client population’s health outcomes and manage the continuum of health in support of their priorities. We will narrow your focus to a few key metrics that will assist in mitigating risk and lowering costs within their population to maintain and improve its health status. These metrics are key to achieving and sustaining superior satisfaction, preserving and improving the population’s health, and managing cost and risk. As you look ahead to 2026 and review strategies to lower your client’s benefit costs and improve productivity, examine these Key Performance metrics.

Session 1

TITLE: Trends in Workforce Well-Being

SPEAKER: Karen Moseley, HERO

Health care costs are predicted to reach historic levels in 2025, so what are employers to do? Karen will bring insights from HERO research and benchmark data from the HERO Health & Well-being Best Practices Scorecard in Collaboration with Mercer. She will engage employers in a discussion about what they’re doing compared to national trends and provide evidence-based best practices to prepare for the year ahead.

Session 2

TITLE: The Power of Benefits in the New Digital Age

SPEAKER: Tami Simon

In today’s digitally focused, fast-paced world – where entire grassroots movements are born out of a single social media post and “influencers” can help make or break a product’s success – it can be hard to know if your employee benefit programs directly impact your organization’s success. Explore how your benefit programs can serve as one of your organization’s most effective marketing and public relations tools – or – become one of its biggest headaches. You won’t want to miss this informative, entertaining, and interactive session.

TITLE: A New Era of Experiential Medicine – From Video Games to Psychedelics

For thousands of years, humans have been creating and ritualizing experiences to enrich our lives: music, dance, art, sports, story and games. We’ve also intentionally designed experiences to support our mental health, such as meditation and mindfulness practice. And yet despite this rich history, most people don’t think about experience as medicine, certainly not in the same way that they think about pills. Learn how integrating neuroscience-guided design, invention, and experimentation led to the validation of experiences as medicine. Adam will discuss closed-loop video games, which have been FDA-cleared and the first digital treatment for ADHD. We will then look towards the next generation of experiential medicine that will incorporate advances in artificial intelligence, sensory immersion, virtual reality, multimodal physiological recordings, and non-invasive brain stimulation. Adam will conclude with a discussion of the potential of one of the oldest experiential medicines – psychedelics.

Session 1

TITLE: Managing Fiduciary Responsibilities and Transparency in Benefits Management  

SPEAKER: Carmilla Tan, CVS

Employer fiduciary responsibilities are becoming increasingly more important. Failing to carry out these duties could even include personal liability. Hear from an industry expert on how they are navigating the benefits landscape with approaches to managing fiduciary responsibility, transparency requirements and the ever-changing regulatory landscape.

Steps employers can take to mitigate fiduciary risks include analyzing healthcare industry uncertainties that impact benefit management, learning strategies for effectively managing fiduciary responsibilities, and gaining insights into the latest regulatory developments affecting healthcare benefits.

Session 2

TITLE: Artificial Intelligence and Using it to Engage a Multi-Generational Workforce

SPEAKER: Preet Khalsa, Devot AI & Michael McGrath, McGohan Brabender

Artificial Intelligence is everywhere and rapidly transforming healthcare and benefits. As AI continues to evolve, the technology can enhance patient care, increase healthcare efficiency, improve patient outcomes, and help employers enroll in the right plan during open enrollment.   

Transforming employee benefit communication strategies is crucial for engaging a multigenerational workforce. Traditionally, open enrollment and group meetings have been used to disseminate information about vendors, plan structures, and the financial implications of benefit programs. Employers now use highly configurable platforms to offer real-time advocacy and resource mapping, creating a more interactive and personalized experience for employees. These dynamic learning ecosystems continuously evolve based on engagement metrics and the growing demand for immediate interaction. By analyzing consumption patterns and behaviors, messages can be tailored to promote positive actions among members. This method allows targeted communication, helping plan sponsors send the right message to the right people at the right time, boosting engagement, and improving health outcomes. 

Session 3   

          TITLE: Analytics You Wish You Knew

SPEAKER: Panel of Experts

A panel of experts and peers will cover how financial and benefit decision-makers at companies can become overwhelmed with data and how to make more data driven decisions.

Employers will learn how to implement analytics to answer: Did I need this program, is it working, are costs and quality of care ensuring our insured population is getting the best most cost-effective quality care, and so forth?

In addition, learn how to comply with the government introduced Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) and the Transparency in Coverage (TiC) rule which placed new obligations on employers – including the fiduciary’s obligation to act in the best interests of another person or entity. It includes duties of care, loyalty, good faith, confidentiality, prudence, and disclosure.  Learn how analytics can help you comply.

Session 1

TITLE: Myths and Misconceptions: What’s Truly Driving Costs 

SPEAKER: David Ross, Brown & Brown

Benefit professionals advocate for the best possible benefits, not only for employee retention and recruitment but also to reduce healthcare costs without sacrificing quality.  

While many ideas for plan customization are attractive, they are often misunderstood or oversimplified, to the point of being false or misleading. This session provides a deeper understanding of the often-unforeseen consequences that plan sponsors’ decisions can have on costs, recruitment, and retention. 

Many health plan solutions ultimately drive-up costs for employers and employees. How to structure your medical offering to increase the value of benefits and improve your bottom line. 

Session 2 

TITLE: Moving from Boiling the Ocean to Practical Solutions

SPEAKER: Health Action Council

With over 402 million terabytes of data created each day and the number expected to continue to grow, where does an employer focus to impact employee health and healthcare outcomes as well as costs without creating news headliners. Data in and outside healthcare can pave the way for clear areas of focus. By evaluating data on a macro and micro level, learn how to identify challenges in the health of your population, avoid potential claims, improve employee well-being, increase productivity, and strengthen bottom line results by mitigating healthcare costs.

Session 3

TITLE: The Evolution of Primary Care and how Employers are Leading by Driving the Change

SPEAKER: Beth Holmes, Hint Connect & Patrick Nelli, Aligned Marketplace

The delivery of primary care in the United States has significantly changed over the years due to considerable environmental pressures leading to unique new access points for patients. While traditional primary care continues to be an option, the demand for accessibility and lower costs have resulted in broader models of care.

This session will review the history of primary care, examine the environmental impacts, and explore how alternative primary care models have sprung up to fill the gaps in the system. This discussion will compare alternatives for providing care that is comprehensive, accessible, and personalized. It will also review how implementing innovative contract models can reduce total costs of care and improve healthcare outcomes.

TITLE: Healthcare, Technology, and a New Tomorrow

Healthcare is at a critical juncture. Down one road, misinformation, unchecked technology, and questionable leadership will worsen long-standing issues. Along the other path, smart partnerships, ethical AI, and sensible policies will strengthen patient engagement, drive business success, and improve outcomes.

In this talk, the globally recognized chief medical officer, technologist, and bestselling author, Dr. Geeta Nayyar, MD, MBA, “Dr. G,” reveals the route to unlocking the full potential of today’s evolving healthcare landscape. She unpacks the state of the industry, spotlights success stories, separates fact from fiction, illustrates the modern consumer, and reveals how to scale trust.

Session 1

TITLE: Unpack Critical Issues: A Paradigm Shift in PBM 

SPEAKER: Parmod John, VIVIO

The Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) Industry is currently facing numerous challenges.

Starting with scrutinizing PBM business models (‘big 3’ and ‘transparent’ PBMs) and emerging open market alternatives, attendees will learn how to leverage ‘cost-plus’ pharmacies, which can significantly reduce medication costs. We’ll review current legal challenges and examine how rebates, often touted as cost-saving mechanisms, contribute to inflationary pressures. Critical issues impacting the industry will be unpacked and replacement models that could lead to a paradigm shift in the PBM model discussed.

This session will demonstrate the need for transparency and innovative strategies to pave the way for a more efficient and patient-centric approach.

Session 2

TITLE: Addressing Healthcare Disparities within Your Population

SPEAKER: Mark Allen and Dan Gardner

Explore healthcare disparities and trends in underserved and rural communities and the profound impact they have on the residents. Learn about the issues and challenges facing delivery of care in these areas. Then take a deep dive into innovations in care delivery that can address these disparities. Employers will have the opportunity to discover how they can best support and manage the risk of this employee population.

TITLE: Healthcare Policy and Political Update

Healthcare policy and politics are deeply intertwined with government playing a pivotal role in directing healthcare and benefits legislative efforts. With the 2024 election behind us, Heather will discuss the immediate legislative and political objectives occurring and how they will likely affect regulatory requirements for employers, insurers, and other stakeholders in the healthcare system. She will break down complex policy concepts and provide technical legislative, regulatory, and political insights that may affect employer-sponsored benefit programs. This crucial information will help employers mange their benefit strategy and understand where future risks may occur.