61. Inside IFEBP: Fiduciary Duty, CEBS & Future Benefits Trends with Justin Held

Welcome back to the No BS. No sales pitch. Just real solutions podcast.  This week our host Chelsea Ryckis sits down with Justin Held, CEBS of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) to unpack what HR, CFOs, and CEOs need now: neutral education, fiduciary guardrails, and a practical path to future-proof employee benefits.In this episode:What IFEBP is and how it helps plan sponsors with objective, non-lobbying educationCEBS breakdown: curriculum, timelines, and why employers fund itFiduciary duty basics after ERISA and why CAA 2021 put health plans under the spotlightThe 2025–2026 benefits agenda: PBM contracts, data analysis, chronic conditions, GLP-1 coverage, mental and behavioral health, peer support models, and AI in plan administrationHow to run a strategic review of your plan: surveys, focus groups, utilization data, KPIsSimple, high-impact changes most members won’t even notice, but your budget will.Timestamps:0:00 Intro1:08 What IFEBP does and why it’s neutral6:35 Conferences, toolkits, and daily benefits headlines10:12 CEBS overview and chapter network14:45 ERISA fiduciary duty in health and retirement19:18 Trends: PBM contracts, GLP-1, mental health, AI, fraud prevention28:40 Peer support models for mental health33:10 How to future-proof benefits with data and KPIsIf you are an employer, CFO, or CEO who is tired of trend increases and status quo advice, this conversation will give you a path to real savings and better outcomes. If this helped, like, subscribe, and share with a leader who needs to hear it.  Tell us in the comments: What is the first change you will make to your benefits strategy?Whether you're an HR professional, CFO, CEO, or just tired of rising healthcare costs, this is your call to rethink benefits strategy and finally take control.Connect with our guest today at: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-held-cebs/Website: https://www.ifebp.org/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/IFEBPListen to their podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-benefits/id1183535454Connect with Chelsea and Donovan:Website: https://businessofbenefitspodcast.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ethoseffectpodcast/Chelsea: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-ryckis-8508a192/Donovan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donovanryckis/Finished with the content? Claim your CE credit here: https://ideas.ethosbenefits.com/continuing-educationSHRM: Ethos Benefits is recognized by SHRM to offer professional development credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.HRCI: Ethos Benefits is approved to offer HRCI® recertification credits for this program. This program has been approved for 0.5 - 1 HR (General) recertification credit(s) toward aPHR®, PHR®, SPHR®, and GPHR® certification.