Episode 61 - Tackling Workforce Health Literacy and Rising Healthcare Costs - with Maddison Bezdicek

In the latest episode of The Health Literacy 2.0 Podcast, host Seth Serxner welcomes Maddison Bezdicek, VP of Strategic Vendor Services at Captive Resources, for a deep dive into the evolving challenges - and opportunities - employers face in workforce health literacy, cost control, and benefit strategy.

Maddison brings a decade-plus of experience in health strategy leadership across insurance brokerage, carrier consulting, and now the captive space, where groups of employers join forces to manage healthcare risk and costs together. With a foundation in exercise science and hands-on knowledge from both the vendor and employer sides, Maddison specializes in forging partnerships and guiding organizations through the complexities of benefits, wellness, vendor selection, and data-driven decision-making.

Seth and Maddison explore:

• Unpacking Group Captives: How employer collectives are creating greater purchasing power and shared strategies for better healthcare cost management.
• Managing Rising Health Costs: Why skyrocketing benefits spending is a top pain point—and how employers are seeking stability before focusing on employee wellness interventions.
• Pharmacy as a Cost Driver: Tackling the often-overlooked impact of pharmacy spend (up to 50% of total healthcare costs) through smarter PBM relationships and contracts.
• Data-Driven Decisions: The shift from limited claims data to deeper analytics - enabling tailored interventions and more effective vendor partnerships.
• Point Solution Fatigue: The reality of too many health and wellness programs - and how narrowing focus and improving communication is driving better employee engagement.
• Reframing Engagement Metrics: Moving from utilization rates to targeting the right populations, and the rise of outcome-based (“case unit”) pricing models for vendors.
• Digital Health’s Double-Edged Sword: Opportunities and challenges in leveraging digital platforms for engagement, including the importance of understanding and respecting different employee populations.
• The Health Literacy Imperative: The growing employer interest—if not frustration—around empowering employees to better navigate healthcare, and why education often remains a tough nut to crack at scale.
• Responsible Use of AI: Balancing back-end administrative efficiency with the irreplaceable value of human connection, especially in sensitive health scenarios.

With practical perspectives on everything from vendor evaluation to the human experience behind benefit designs, this episode reminds us that while technology and strategy are vital, it’s the employee’s real-world journey that should remain front and center.

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