Episode # 94 – Meet Doug Aldeen an ERISA Attorney and National Activist Bucking for Fundamental Change as More Self-insured Employers Turn to Their Health Spend to Uncover Buried Treasure of 20-60% Savings and Better Outcomes for Employees.

In this episode Ron chats with Doug Aldeen, General Counsel and ERISA Health Care Attorney. Here they do a deep dive into how employers are changing they way they are looking at health benefits for their employees due to the crazy rate at which costs are rising and how COVID-19 is speeding up this change. They also discuss how the current way the American healthcare system is built is a sick care system, built to “feed the beast”. They also touch on referenced based pricing, how most urgent care facilities are owned by large health systems, the importance of having a primary care physician, direct primary care, and more.

Doug is an Austin, TX based health care and ERISA attorney who recently served as ERISA counsel on behalf of the Berkeley Research Group in New York City to the $7.7 billion May 2016 acquisition of Multiplan and its medical bill repricing product Data Isight by the private equity firm Hellman and Friedman. Since 1997, he currently and has represented reference base pricing organizations, a bundled payment software platform, PPO networks, medium to small self-funded plans, TPA’s and provider sponsored HMO’s  in various capacities including Herdrich v. Peagram which was argued before the United States Supreme Court in 2001. Moreover, he currently serves as a resource to national news organizations regarding issues on health care and in addition as a consultant with the Governmental Relations Committee at the Self Insured Institute of America in Washington D.C. and as an advisor to RIP Medical Debt which has abolished over $1.2 billion in medical debt.

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