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In this episode Doug Aldeen, General Counsel and ERISA Health Care Attorney, returns to the show. Here they do a deep dive into the current state of the healthcare industry and the impact COVID-19 has had on it. They also discuss the transparency laws, large employers finding better benefits brokers, 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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This episode features Sean K Mehra, Founder & CEO at HealthTap. Here they discuss HealthTap and their focus on being a virtual primary care platform that gives patients long term relationships with their doctor so that the doctor can focus on the holistic and ongoing care of each patient.

Sean is currently Founder & Chief Executive Officer at HealthTap, a nationwide virtual primary care clinic enabled by a leading consumer technology experience to provide a personal relationship to an affordable, long-term primary care doctor equitably nationwide to all Americans, with or without good insurance. Over the decade, Sean served various leadership roles at the organization, including COO and CPO, responsible for building the technology, team, and clinical operation which allow the company to deliver trusted doctor care and knowledge scalably and cost-efficiently.

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In this episode Ron chats with Mary Talley Bowden, Owner of BreatheMD. Here, they do a deep dive into how Mary stood up to the healthcare establishment and the Bigs to treat COVID-19 patients how she felt they should be treated and how she asked all the right questions when it came to treatments, vaccines, and censorship. She also discusses how the pandemic has shed light on many of the issues in the American healthcare system and how independent and direct care leads to better outcomes.

Dr. Bowden completed her residency at Stanford University and is board-certified in both Otolaryngology and Sleep Medicine. In 2003, she moved to Houston and worked with Drs. Kyle McCutcheon and Alasdair Gilchrist at Memorial Northwest Otolaryngology. She specializes in sinus, sleep and allergy disorders and treats both children and adults.

As a mother of four boys, Dr. Bowden has spent many years being on the other side of the doctor-patient relationship. Her frustrations with the traditional medical system inspired her to open BreatheMD in 2019, with the goal to simplify and improve patients’ office visit experiences. To optimize efficiency, she has included multiple therapeutic diagnostic modalities on-site so patients can leave her office with a treatment plan and feeling better. Access to her clinic is easy with ground-level parking and online appointment scheduling. Patients are expected to leave the visit feeling better, with medications and procedures available in her clinic.

BreatheMD is a cash-pay facility, and Dr Bowden has opted out of all insurance plans but keeps her prices fair and transparent. All prices for clinic appointments and surgeries are listed on our website. Patients are given an itemized receipt to submit to their insurance companies for reimbursement. If you are an employer who self-insures, please talk to us – we love working directly with businesses to help them provide affordable high-quality care to their patients.

Dr. Bowden is also interested in research and is currently working to publish her findings from recent COVID-19 testing. For a list of Dr. Bowden’s publications, please click here.

She is on the advisory team of FLCCC, is co-leader of the Houston chapter of the Free Market Medical Association, and serves on the advisory board at the Validation Institute.

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In this episode, Ron chats with Zach Zeller, Co-Founder and President of ScriptCo Pharmacy. Here, Zach returns to the show to discuss subscription-based wholesale pharmacy and the incredible value it offers to employers and patients. They also discuss the issues with PBMs, how to sidestep the bigs, and they incredible prices they can offer for generic drug prices.

Zach Zeller grew up in Flower Mound, Texas, and attended the University of Texas on a Track and Field scholarship. Zach’s work ethic led to him to become a school record holder, All American, and multiple time Big 12 Champion.

After graduating from UT, Zach took a role with DePuy Orthopedics as Trauma Representative, where he earned the second-highest percentage increase growth in the United States in 2006. After being in the operating room just shy of 10 years years and offering guidance to surgical teams and surgeons in over 5,500 surgical procedures, Zach chose to move out of the surgical space and into the pharmacy market.

In 2017 Zach co-founded Texas-based ValueScript Pharmacy.

As a pharmacy owner he saw firsthand the intentionally designed lack of transparency in the marketplace created by pharmacy benefit managers that surrounds access and cost of medications when using health insurance. Zach and the ValueScript team were trying to figure out a better way to provide access and value to consumers.

After exhaustive research we felt that the best way to reach our goal of solving the cost and access problems that revolve around prescription medications could be solved by starting the first and only membership-based wholesale pharmacy in America, ScriptCo.

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In this episode Ron talks to Chris Habig, Co-Founder and CEO of Freedom Healthworks. Here they discuss the Freedom Healthcare model and how they help providers start their dream practice. Chris does a deep dive into how their practices focus on the doctor patient relationship and enable doctors to practice the art of medicine in a way that gives them the fulfillment they want out of their careers.

Christopher Habig has been active across a wide range of functions and industries during his career. Possessing an entrepreneurial mindset and a focus on problem-solving, Chris has developed his personal style of leadership to drive forward company visions, missions, and strategies. He is skilled at bringing concepts to life and into the market.

Educated in Indianapolis at Butler University, he earned a BS in finance as well as completion of pre-med course work. He went on to run companies in retail, publishing, and small business consulting before becoming a partner within a real estate investment and property management firm. While working in real estate, Chris earned his MBA in entrepreneurship from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.

He Co-Founded one of the largest single-family residential property management companies in the United States, Home River Group. Upon exiting to private equity, Chris turned his focus to his real passion, improving the healthcare industry in the United States. At Freedom Healthworks, Chris ensures progress in key performance areas while adhering to the company’s core values. To help educate and spread the message of Freedom Healthworks, Chris hosts the company podcast, Healthcare Americana. This podcast serves as a way to discuss important issues with stakeholders across the country.

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This episode features Dr. Jeff Wells, CEO and Co-Founder of Marathon Health. Here Ron and Jeff do a deep dive into Marathon’s model, what makes it different, and the savings it creates for its members, and more. Jeff shares his passion for passion for transforming primary care in a way that puts patients and outcomes first while keeping providers and employers happy. Marathon Health truly differentiates itself from the legacy model and offers on onsite health centers, Marathon Health Network, and Marathon Health Anywhere.

Jeff Wells, MD, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Marathon Health, a modern health company that partners with employers, benefit consultants and unions to deliver a healthcare experience that focuses on driving real behavior change, resulting in better employee health and financial savings. Marathon Health’s model consists of onsite health centers, Network health centers and virtual advanced primary care. Wells, who earned his MD in internal medicine from Indiana University, was president and co-founder of OurHealth, which merged with Marathon Health in January 2020. He is the former director of Indiana’s Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning.

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In this episode Ron chats with Dr. John Abramson, Author of the book “Sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It”. Here, they discuss John’s new book and discuss the problem that is Big Pharma, which funds most clinical trials and therefore controls the research agenda, withholds the real data from those trials as corporate secrets, and shapes most of the information relied upon by health-care professionals. They also do a deep dive into fix many of the issues with Big Pharma.

After completing a residency in Family Medicine and a 2 year Robert Wood Johnson fellowship, John Abramson, MD MSc, worked as a family physician in a small town an hour north of Boston for 20 years.   He served for 7 years as chairperson of the department of family practice at Lahey Clinic. He has been on the Harvard Medical School faculty since 1997, and is currently a Lecturer in the Department of Health Care Policy. From 2005 through the present, Dr. Abramson has served as an expert in litigation involving prescription drugs and medical devices, giving him access to millions of pages of confidential corporate documents and unreleased clinical trial data. He has also served as a consultant to the FBI and U. S. Department of Justice on a case that led to the largest criminal fine in U.S. history.

Dr. Abramson has published articles in medical journals critiquing the quality of scientific evidence available to practicing physicians including: “Are Lipid-Lowering Guidelines Evidence Based” published in Lancet, “Can We Trust the Evidence in Evidence Based Medicine” in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, and “Clinical Trial Data is a Public Good” published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.  Dr. Abramson was the lead author of a paper published in the BMJ (formerly British Medical Journal) titled “Should people at low risk of cardiovascular disease take a statin,” and an op-ed in the NY Times titled “Don’t Give More Patients Statins.”   Dr. Abramson has appeared on more than 75 national television shows, including two appearances on the Today Show.  He has written additional op-ed pieces in the New York Times, LA Times and more.

Dr. Abramson is the author of two books: Overdosed America: The Broken Promise of American Medicine, published by HarperCollins in September 2004; and Sickening: How Big Pharma Broke American Health Care and How We Can Repair It, published by Mariner/HarperCollins in February 2022.

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In this episode, Ron chats with Christin Deacon, Principal Owner at VerSan Consulting, LLC. Here she discusses her career journey, how corporate America has woken up to the benefits of direct primary care, her new consulting firm, how she is working with strategic large employers that are ready to take the journey to better and more affordable care for their employees.

Christin has served in a variety of capacities both in government service and in the private sector throughout her career. She previously served on the Department of Treasury, Division of Pensions and Benefits. She also served as Assistant Counsel to former Governor Chris Christie, where she handled a portfolio consisting of Department of Banking and Insurance, the New Jersey Lottery, Division of Investments, and all other agencies within Treasury. Prior to serving in the Governor’s Office, Christin was a Deputy Attorney General for the State where she was involved in high profile projects and litigation, including matters related to the State and School Employee Health Benefits Plans (SHBP/SEHBP). In private sector, Christin was a corporate restructuring attorney handling corporate debtor and creditor work and she is barred in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She also served as Chief Clerk to the Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the District of New Jersey for three years.

When she is not pushing the envelope at work, she is likely pushing around a double stroller on her way to her son’s soccer games or headed to a tennis match!

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This episode features Tom Gentile, President & CEO at Spirit Aerosystems. Here, he discusses their organizations decision to adopt on-site primary care and join the direct contract movement. He does a deep dive into how this decision has greatly benefited both the organization and their employees.

Tom Gentile was named president and chief executive officer of Spirit AeroSystems in August 2016 after joining the company in April 2016 as chief operating officer.

Prior to Spirit, he served as president and chief operating officer of GE Capital, overseeing global operations, IT and capital planning. Before this role, Gentile was president and CEO of GE Healthcare Systems, a $14 billion diagnostic imaging business. He also served as president and CEO of GE Aviation Services, a $7 billion global enterprise providing maintenance, repair, and overhaul as well as spare parts to GE Aviation’s global fleet of jet engines for commercial airlines. Gentile began his career at GE in 1998, holding a succession of leadership roles across GE Capital in the U.S., France and Australia.

He has held numerous other leadership and strategy roles with McKinsey and Company, U.S. broadcaster CBS and General Motors. In addition, Gentile was previously chairman and continues to serve on the board of InSightec, a global leader in non-invasive image guided therapy.

An active community member, Gentile serves on the executive committee of the Aerospace Industries Association and the governing boards of the Greater Wichita Partnership and Kansas Big Brothers Big Sisters. Gentile is a champion of Spirit’s Good Neighbor Fund employee giving program and also serves as a Trustee of the ALS Finding a Cure organization. He previously served on the Greater Milwaukee Committee, as well as on the boards of the United Way of Greater Milwaukee and the United Way of Coastal Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Gentile earned his bachelor’s degree in economics magna cum laude and an MBA from Harvard University, and studied international relations at the London School of Economics.

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This episode features Peter Hayes, President & CEO of the Healthcare Purchaser Alliance of Maine. Here, he discusses how healthcare has evolved over the past 25 years, the increasing healthcare costs, and how employees are slowly taking their power back. They also discuss the work his organization is doing in Maine, some of their biggest success stories, and more.

Peter Hayes currently the President & CEO of the Healthcare Purchaser Alliance of Maine and formerly a principal of Healthcare Solutions and Director of Associate Health and Wellness at Hannaford Supermarkets. He has been recognized as a thought leader in innovative, strategic benefit design for the past 25+ years. He has received numerous national awards in recognition of his commitment to working collaboratively with healthcare providers and vendors in delivering health benefits that are focused on value (high quality efficient care). He has been successful in this arena by focusing on innovative solutions for patient advocacy, chronic disease management, and health promotion programs.

Peter has also been involved in health care reform leadership roles on both the national and regional levels with organizations like Center for Health Innovation, Care Focused Purchasing, Leapfrog, co-founder of the Maine Health Management Coalition, and been appointed by two different Maine Governors to serve on Health Care Reform Commissions to recommend public policies to improve the access and affordability of health care for Maine citizens.

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