We revisit how employers can control healthcare spend while expanding employee choice through ICRAs, with Chad Schneider of Thatch sharing what works, what breaks, and what’s next. We dig into change management, decision tools, dynamic contributions, and the broker’s evolving role.

• Why ICRAs surged after 2020 and boomed in 2024
• Carrier expansion and a stronger individual market
• The real barrier being change management and fintech
• Decision support that mirrors travel-style shopping
• Dynamic contributions that create equity across markets
• Carve-out classes to manage renewals and strategy
• Common misconceptions among brokers and employers
• Data, APIs, and real-time enrollment tracking
• Emerging perks, localized networks, and future trends

Please feel free to go to our website, which is thatch.com, reach out to me on LinkedIn. I’d love to chat with you, and we can happily go through our process, quoting, show you all the cool bells and whistles, and we’d love to be able to engage further.

This episode is sponsored by Benepower, the platform of choice for a modern benefits experience. Benepower is an AI-powered benefits platform offering access to top products and services, enabling consultants and employers to create customized plans, optimize usage, and measure effectiveness. www.benepower.com

We revisit how PPOs got built on discounts and show why total value beats sticker price. Scott Smith joins us to explain nationally curated high-performance networks that rank providers on effectiveness, appropriateness, and cost, and how that changes renewals, member experience, and fiduciary risk.

• why traditional PPO discounts miss total cost of care
• how consolidation and narrow networks increase abrasion
• claims-based scoring at the provider NPI level
• quality metrics that matter: effectiveness, appropriateness, cost
• member tools: stars, plain-language summaries, mobile access
• plan design that waives cost sharing for high-quality choices
• PEPM pricing without shared savings games
• national footprint for TPAs and large employers
• faster ROI and improved MLR through reduced waste
• roadmap to a true BUCA alternative

This episode is sponsored by Benepower, the platform of choice for a modern benefits experience. Benepower is an AI-powered benefits platform offering access to top products and services, enabling consultants and employers to create customized plans, optimize usage, and measure effectiveness. www.benepower.com

We explore how reducing variation in cost, outcomes, and experience creates real value, and why deep provider metrics and real-time member support outperform box-checking credentialing. Kate Grohal shares a playbook for aligning incentives without repeating the mistakes that soured HMOs.

• defining quality as reducing variation across cost, outcomes, experience
• Kate’s path from patient escort to quality leader
• why NCQA alone falls short for measuring provider performance
• additional metrics: infection rates, readmissions, team engagement, co-management
• building value-based networks that screen out low-performing providers
• real-time care navigation via nurses, MAs, and app-based prompts
• behavior change through waived cost-sharing and premium reductions
• the downside of PEPM fees and paying for non-performance
• differentiating value-based care from old-school HMO denial tactics
• employers moving from back seat to driver’s seat
• tech adoption gaps and the next five-year horizon

Visit BenaPower.ai or email info@BenaPower.com to schedule a demo
For more information, visit HatcherMedia.net — that’s H A T C H E R Media.net

This episode is sponsored by Benepower, the platform of choice for a modern benefits experience. Benepower is an AI-powered benefits platform offering access to top products and services, enabling consultants and employers to create customized plans, optimize usage, and measure effectiveness. www.benepower.com