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Savings by design: IBM's Dr. Martin Sepulveda saves millions with employee benefit design
When you're in the innovation business, you take some risks and temper your expectations. When one of your innovations produces $100 million in annual savings, you know you're doing something right.
WHEN YOU'RE IN THE INNOVATION business, you take some risks and temper your expectations. When one of your innovations produces $100 million in annual savings, you know you're doing something right.
For global tech giant IBM, innovations to save healthcare dollars among the 340,000 people enrolled in its benefit plan fall squarely on the shoulders of Martin Sepulveda, MD, vice president of global well-being services and health benefits. Dr. Sepulveda, an approachable, easy-going executive, doesn't seem the type to brag about saving the self-insured corporation $100 million on its healthcare bill or about the fact that employees never pay a dime in premiums, but deep down, he probably knows that other employers would love to know his secret.
Health benefits are usually the biggest non-cash portion of employee compensation. Higher-paid workers tend to prefer health benefits, while lower-income workers often prefer to have more money in their paychecks instead of generous health benefits, says Devon Herrick, senior fellow, National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), Dallas.
"Employees often do not even know what their health plan is costing," NCPA's Herrick says. "Also, getting to the point where employers understand the amount of cash wages that workers are willing to forgo for a variety of different benefit levels can be hard to ascertain."
Herrick believes that, hypothetically, if IBM were to stop offering health benefits altogether, most if not all of the employees would probably be willing to stay with the company if they were offered higher salaries to compensate for the lost health coverage. With an optimal mix of cash and non-cash compensation, companies can attract and retain a skilled workforce, but a mix that works for one company or one industry might not work for another, he says.
Bridging the Diversity Gap in Rare Disease Clinical Trials with Harsha Rajasimha of IndoUSrare
November 8th 2023Briana Contreras, an editor with Managed Healthcare Executive, spoke with Harsha Rajasimha, MD, founder and executive chairman of IndoUSrare, in this month's episode of Tuning in to the C-Suite podcast. The conversation was about how the disparity in diversity and ethnicity in rare disease clinical trials in the U.S. has led to gaps in understanding diseases and conditions, jeopardizing universal health, and increasing the economic burden of healthcare.
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Managing Editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, Peter Wehrwein, had a discussion with William Shrank, M.D., a venture partner with Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm in Menlo Park, California, about how artificial intelligence's role is improving healthcare, where we are today with value-based care and the ongoing efforts of reducing waste in the healthcare space for this episode of the "What's on Your Mind" podcast series.
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Air Pollution May Negatively Affect Male Reproductive Health
November 30th 2023A potential mechanism by which air pollutants may affect reproductive health is by endocrine disruption. Air pollutants are made up of mixtures of particulate matter that may include endocrine disruptors, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals.
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35th World AIDS Day Marks 20 Years of PEPFAR: Challenges and Strategies to Combat HIV/AIDS
November 29th 2023PEPFAR, having invested $100 billion and saved 25 million lives in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, faces Congressional hurdles in its reauthorization due to abortion debates. Despite widespread support and no evidence of abortion-related activities, the legislative process is at a standstill. Members of PEPFAR and authors of a recent editorial stress the significance of PEPFAR and advocate for integrating behavioral and social science into healthcare programs to achieve UNAIDS targets and address barriers in HIV/AIDS testing and treatment.
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