2022 Conference Series & Expo Schedule

JAN 27	ALL TIMES & SPEAKERS CONFIRMED
11 AM EST	Keynote Speaker Roger Crawford SPONSORED BY OPTUMRX How to Rebound, Reset, and Reach Higher: Turn Change Into Opportunity Everyone has experienced the challenges and changes brought on by the recent pandemic. Individuals and organizations have had to adjust to this new normal while continuing to deliver promised results. To rise above adversity, we need grit, adaptability, and a resilient mindset. This powerful presentation will equip your team with daily practices and powerful strategies they can use to become even better than they are today. In addition, Roger Crawford’s story will inspire your people to put their own challenges into perspective.
12 PM EST	Break / Visit Virtual Sponsor Booths
12:15 PM EST	Concurrent Breakout Sessions SESSION 1 - Creating Meaning-Centered Leadership Dr. C. Edward Jackson, Co-Founder & CEO, Meaning-Centered Leadership Employees are rethinking their work. It's now less about the paycheck and more about seeking a meaningful, purpose-driven career. Therefore, it is vital to create an environment that instills 'meaning' in the workplace and our lives. Dr. Jackson will share how meaning impacts company productivity and worker wellbeing by focusing on three elements: 1) Engagement - build trust, care/concern, active listening, open communication 2) Empowerment - collaborative visioning, recognition, enthusiasm 3) Expertise - wisdom, optimism, humility Discover skills and strategies that inspire employees to love their jobs and lives! Happier employees lead to healthier work environments and higher engagement, positively impacting the bottom line. SESSION 2 - New Million+ Dollar Drugs Coming to Market in 2022-2025, Creating New Liability for Employers and New Challenges for Finance Marybeth Gray, Marsh McLennan Agency, Senior Vice President Health & Welfare Consulting Be Proactive, not reactive about healthcare costs. In this session, we'll examine challenges you'll face to keep benefits affordable and viable over the next one to three years. -Explore new, expensive therapies and strategies -Understand new, expensive therapies and strategies -Learn how high-cost claimants drive overall cost -Hear what top employers are doing to keep costs in check
1:15 PM EST	Break / Visit Virtual Sponsor Booths
1:30 PM EST	Featured Speaker James A. Klein, President, American Benefits Council SPONSORED BY VIDA Health Policy Update: Politics, Process & Policy With razor think partisan margins in Congress and 2022 as a mid-term election year, health policy will be at the forefront of the campaign initiatives for both parties. But added to the mix is the unique process that congressional leaders are using to advance policy objectives. At the same time, the Biden Administration is actively engaged in numerous health policy regulatory projects compelled both by previously-enacted legislation as well as a recognition that in an environment of legislative gridlock, regulations are the way to put a stamp on public policy. Addressing mental health needs, lowering drug prices, and promoting transparency are priorities as Congress and the Executive Branch pursue health policy goals.

FEB 10	ALL TIMES & SPEAKERS CONFIRMED
11 AM EST	Keynote Speaker Patrick J. Kennedy SPONSORED BY CVS My Journey: Making Mental Health Essential Health Since his earliest days in public service, Patrick J. Kennedy believed that mental health should be a national priority. After 16 years in Congress, and countless bills passed, one stands out among the rest for the impact it has on the lives of all Americans – the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. This bill ensures that mental health is treated on par with physical health, breaking down decades-old practices in the healthcare system that kept those two areas separate from one another, often with dire consequences. Kennedy will discuss why mental health is critical to the overall health and wellbeing of all Americans, why the healthcare system needs to adapt to better accommodate mental healthcare, the underlying public policy imperatives of parity, and why we need to invest in innovation. He'll also discuss his own journey toward mental health and recovery, and how he sees the world today.
12 PM EST	Break / Visit Virtual Sponsor Booths
12:15 PM EST	Concurrent Breakout Sessions SESSION 1 - Awareness and Action Boost Employee Engagement -PART 1 - Boosting Employee Wellbeing in the Workplace Amber Jenson, President, ilYOUmination Coaching and Wellness, LLC Creating a workplace culture of wellbeing starts with YOU! The behavior you model, perceived expectations, and communication skills play an essential role in creating a well-being work environment. The old saying is true 'actions speak louder than words.' Do you skip lunch, come in early and work late? Are you emailing on nights and weekends? What are your actions telling your employees? If you're genuinely committed to boosting employee wellbeing in your workplace, and you're ready to take action, then this interactive workshop is for you. Discover steps you can take today to create a workplace that enhances employee wellbeing and engages employees. Because engaged employees equal happier, healthier employees and increased productivity. A win-win! -PART 2 - How to Take Action on Data Shareef Ghanem, Vice President of Growth, Cleo The struggle is real for working families and a deep dive into what the data shows us the action we should take. The last 18 months have exposed the holes in our model for supporting working families. Parental burnout is at an all-time high, and many organizations have sought to adapt their benefits, policies, or practices. Still, it's not always clear how to better support working families, especially while we continue to navigate the challenges of the pandemic and the accelerating war for talent across industries. We'll share results from a recent Working Parents survey, highlighting insights and trends relative to past surveys. We'll also share critical tactics to understand the needs of your population and identify the right solutions. SESSION 2 - Upstream Approaches to Survive Cancer -PART 1 - The Disparities in Cancer Care Are Alive and Real: A Strategy and Tactics for Employers Addressing the Inequity Dickon Waterfield, Chief Strategy Officer, Employer Direct Healthcare Anyone impacted by the hardships of cancer, directly or indirectly, knows that cancer is complex. And while it can affect anyone, it doesn't affect everyone equally. Several variables can limit access to appropriate care to prevent, treat, and survive cancer. Learn how healthcare disparities affect every step of cancer and employers' critical role in identifying opportunities for positive change. -Part 2 - A Potentially Life-Changing Benefit: Multi-Cancer Early Detection Kimberly Hamann, MS, CGC, Medical Science Liaison, Grail Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) testing is a breakthrough approach to cancer screening. Three out of four invasive cancers currently don't have screening tests, often leading to fatal outcomes when the cancer is detected too late. MCED testing has demonstrated the ability to see more than 50 types of cancers and predict, with high accuracy, where the cancer signal originated in the body, all from a single blood draw, offering the opportunity to treat cancer earlier and reduce associated treatment costs.
1:15 PM EST	Break / Visit Virtual Sponsor Booths
1:30 PM EST	Healthy Business Council of Ohio - Healthy Worksite Award Ceremony

FEB 24	KEYNOTE SPEAKERS CONFIRMED / BREAKOUT SESSIONS BEING CONFIRMED
11 AM EST	Featured Speaker Brian Alexander SPONSORED BY KAIA HEALTH Understanding and Addressing America's Healthcare Crisis What makes a community? Whether we're talking about a small town, a state, a nation, or the world, the word 'community' implies a set of shared values, often referred to as 'the social contract.' In his book, Glass House: The 1% Economy and the Shattering of the All-American Town, he examines how the rise of the post-New Deal Town and the 1980s change in American values has put the old-fashioned 'all American town' in distress. Attendees will learn about the government policies, financial practices, and corporate dealings that threaten our communities.
12:00 PM EST	Break / Visit Virtual Sponsor Booths
12:15 PM EST	GENERAL SESSION - Values that Define the Future of Health Benefits Three-part, Ted Talk-like presentations followed by a panel discussion moderated by Ginger Christ, a reporter for Modern Healthcare. -PART 1 - Four Modern Values That Will Define the Future of Health Benefits Alison Richards, C.E.O., Bind Consumers are hungry for healthcare that mirrors the 'point, click and compare' purchase experience they are used to in every other aspect of their lives. Enhancing this experience will help retain top talent, so learn the emerging four health plan pillars that promise to deliver better, more consumer-centric health benefits. -Part 2 - An Inclusive Health Benefit—Where All Belong Trevor Fast, Bind Chief Actuary, Bind Can you have a genuinely inclusive workplace without inclusive health benefits? And what do inclusive health plans look like? Now is when courageous and progressive benefits leaders are stepping up and driving some simple yet significant changes in health plan design—creating a future where all employees can access, afford and achieve their best health. -Part 3 - Advancing Health Equity in Our Communities and the Workplace Michael Currie, Sr. Vice President & Chief Health Equity Officer, UnitedHealth Group Health equity means helping people live their healthiest lives by giving them the care and support they need to achieve optimal health. It also means eliminating inequalities, or unfair differences, in how people access and receive the healthcare they need and deserve. These inequalities, also known as health disparities, can be based on race, ethnicity, language, income, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. According to one study, eliminating racial/ethnic health disparities would reduce health care costs by $230 billion and indirect costs of excess disease and mortality by more than $1 trillion over four years. To build stronger relationships and achieve more meaningful results, we must create a workforce and culture that reflects the people we serve. To achieve this, employers can focus on enabling a more diverse health workforce, addressing inequities in the healthcare system, and advancing equity through business practices.
1:20 PM EST	Break / Visit Virtual Sponsor Booths
1:35 PM EST	Concurrent Breakout Sessions SESSION 1 - The Future of Mental Health in America -Part 1 - Precision Prescription Benefits: A Faster Path to Better Mental Health Treatment for Employees Jeffrey A. Shaman, PhD, MS, Chief Science Officer, Coriell Life Sciences There’s no silver bullet for solving the mental health crisis gripping the U.S. However, as prescription drug use for treating mental health conditions continues to rise, precision prescribing is emerging as a formidable tool in the fight – capable of improving employee health and driving bottom-line benefits for employers. There are approximately 60 FDA-approved medications to treat mental health, but predicting who will respond to them can be tricky since every person reacts differently based on their DNA. These drug-gene interactions affect efficacy, often spur adverse drug events, and, if left unknown, can end up sending individuals down a time-consuming and dangerous path – that’s expensive and risky for them and their employers – before landing on an appropriate medication regimen. So first, learn how you can address trial-and-error prescribing and help employees fast-forward to better mental health in the age of COVID-19 and beyond by seamlessly integrating a precision prescribing program into their benefit plans. Then, drawing on real-world results, learn how to enable employees to get to the proper medications right off the bat to measurably reduce healthcare costs and provide critical benefits for individuals, benefits payers, and healthcare providers. -Part 2 - Scaling Access to Evidence-Based Mental Healthcare Across Employee Populations Dr. Juliette McClendon, Director of Medical Affairs, Big Health Despite significant investments in mental health, approximately 60 percent of people who need mental healthcare still do not receive it. Juliette McClendon, PhD is an expert on examining the role of racism and discrimination in shaping racial/ethnic mental health disparities. Identifying intervention approaches that can mitigate the impact of racism-related stress and trauma on health will help engage those who are traditionally unable or unwilling to access traditional care. This session will explore goals, results, and ways to scale access to evidence-based care across employee populations. SESSION 2 - Ways to Better Manage Obesity, MSK, and Fertility Costs -Part 1 - Obesity: Why it Matters to Your Organization and How You Can Take Action Nabeel Qureshi, Medical Account Associate Director for North Central, Novo Nordisk Learn the financial impact of excess weight and the vital role in designing benefits that address obesity. Highlights include: -Overview of obesity trends at a national and local level -Understand the financial impact that excess weight has on an organization -Get practical tips for taking action to help bend the cost curve -Part 2 - The Impact of Robust Fertility and Family Planning Solutions on Your Population Markies Porter, Director, Business Development, Progyny As we begin families later in life and more single parents by choice and same-sex couples opt to have children, there is a significant and growing need for a robust fertility/family planning solution. Fertility benefits from traditional carriers have significant shortcomings creating an opportunity to disrupt the status quo with a more innovative benefit design that supports a diverse population. Get a better understanding of how a robust fertility planning solution can improve clinical outcomes, lower costs and help a diverse group of members through the complex emotional, mental, and physical challenges of building a family.

MAR 10	KEYNOTE SPEAKERS CONFIRMED / BREAKOUT SESSIONS BEING CONFIRMED
11:00 AM EST	Keynote Speaker Sara Frasca SPONSORED BY UNITEDHEALTHCARE *Harnessing Innovation: Turning Raw Ideas Into Powerful Results* Sara Frasca has seen thousands of companies loaded with creative buzz and big ideas. So how is it that some harness their imagination to create game-changing drivers of growth and innovation while others miss the mark? The answer is that the best companies have a systematic process to focus their team’s creativity on practical outputs. Frasca blends the improvisational qualities of a jazz ensemble with bleeding-edge business savvy to bring a completely fresh perspective on unleashing creativity. Her presentation includes practical tools that immediately increase creative output and deliver bottom-line results.
12:00 PM EST	Research Unveiling
12:30 PM EST	Networking Break
12:45 PM EST	Concurrent Breakout Sessions SESSION 1 - Game Plans to Avoid Rx Overspending -Part 1 - Prescription for Success: Using Cost Transparency to Control you Rx Spend Samantha McMaster, Pharm-D, Senior Director of Pharmacy, Healthcare Bluebook Now more than ever, the skyrocketing cost of healthcare and prescription drugs imposes a growing financial burden on patients and employers who sponsor health benefit plans. We know that approximately one in four Americans can't afford their medications. And for some companies, pharmacy spending consumes more than 30 percent of their total health benefit costs. By enhancing Rx member support and access to data-driven, personalized information, organizations can drive outcomes and drastically reduce spend by guiding members to clinically effective, lower-cost medication alternatives. -Part 2 - Specialty Pharmacy: Your Game Plan for Five Key Challenges Dr. Kerri Tanner, Senior Vice President of Specialty Product, OptumRx Specialty costs continue to rise across benefits, calling for new ways of thinking and approaches to better managing spend. Learn what's coming and actions you can take now to better manage spend and trend while finding the right care for those who need it most. SESSION 2 - Improve Employee Health by Overcoming Socio-Economic Barriers -Part 1 - Social Determinants of Health Michael C. Sokol, MD, MS, Senior Vice President of Clinical Strategy, Quantum Health With the pandemic creating healthcare gaps for many, employers need to know how to assess those social determinants to design benefit plans to meet people where they are, no matter the social and economic barriers they may face. -Part 2 - Addressing Social Determinants of Health & Individual Social Needs Jennifer Jones, MSM RD, Population Health Practice Leader, Springbuk At its core, social determinants of health are about improving the underlying social and economic conditions within communities to improve the health of all members. Understanding how social determinants of health impact the communities in which employees live, work and grow, employers can begin to address the individual social needs that some employees will have. They can also start to identify demographic pockets where the needs, and solutions, are different.