Better Value Health

In this episode, we trace how Anthony, as an inaugural Chief Marketing Officer for the State helped shape Connecticut’s identity and how those same branding principles may power a Tribal health system built on trust, value, and community outreach. We explore AI’s shockwaves across communications and medicine, and why soft skills now carry hard value.• winter scenes set a human tone• the path from campaigns to chief marketing officer• what branding means beyond logos• listening first as leadership practice• trust as the bedrock of healthcare change• defining Better Value Health in practical terms• concentric circles of service in tribal care• community outreach over mass advertising• reframing scale as depth and time with family• complex problems and clear north stars• AI disruption and proactive reputation management• physicians as interpreters of maladies• soft skills, humility and shared decisions• books and podcasts that shape resilience• bridging baseball, sleep and performanceUnited States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

A single typhoid fever case in New York City set a young physician on a path that now shapes health policy for an entire state. We sit down with Dr. Manisha Juthani, Connecticut’s Commissioner of Public Health, to trace the unlikely route from outbreak sleuthing and COVID press briefings to a statewide strategy that blends infectious disease vigilance with relentless pursuit of equity.We dig into the partnership between the Department of Public Health and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, exploring how mass vaccination, shared infrastructure, and government-to-government collaboration built momentum that continues today. Dr. Juthani explains why a top health ranking can mask deep disparities, and how the state plans to reduce gaps in heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and dementia through community-driven prevention, better access in rural and rural-adjacent areas, and a stronger public health workforce. She outlines new training pipelines, the Rural Health Transformation Grant with tribal set-asides, and long-term postings aimed at stabilizing care where it’s needed most.We also tackle the fragile foundation beneath public health—heavy reliance on federal funding—and the push to unify DPH communications so people hear consistent, memorable messages across cancer screenings, tobacco cessation, and vaccination. From modernizing drinking water systems to protecting herd immunity—Connecticut reached 98.7% measles vaccination among kindergartners—Dr. Juthani makes the case that preparedness and chronic disease work must advance together. The result is a clear, practical playbook for building trust, closing gaps, and staying ready for whatever arrives next.If this conversation sparked ideas or questions, share it with a friend, subscribe for future episodes, and leave a review with the one change you want to see in your community’s health.United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

Tribal Elder and Vice Chairman of the Elders Council, Herb Boyd shares his story, his journey in healing and strength. His lived experiences and his work in the recovery space gives hope and healing to so many. United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared for marketing the first in vitro diagnostic device that tests blood to aid in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. The Lumipulse G pTau217/ß-Amyloid 1-42 Plasma Ratio is for the early detection of amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer’s disease in adult patients, aged 55 years and older, exhibiting signs and symptoms of the disease.“Alzheimer’s disease impacts too many people, more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined,” said FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary, M.D., M.P.H. “Knowing that 10% of people aged 65 and older have Alzheimer's, and that by 2050 that number is expected to double, I am hopeful that new medical products such as this one will help patients.”What does this mean for the patients? The hope of early and reliable diagnosis. What does this mean for the health plans? Be prepared for more Rx volume and $$$ spend on the two approved specialty drugs- Leqembi or Kisunla. The total costs will go up. United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

Weight loss injections, game-changing diabetes drugs, and a multi-billion-dollar industry—GLP-1 medications have taken the world by storm. But how did we get here? In this podcast, we break down the history, scientific advances, and the recent Lasker Award given to the researchers behind these revolutionary drugs.GLP-1 drugs have reshaped medicine, from managing diabetes to redefining obesity treatment. The Lasker-winning researchers behind them have revolutionized how we think about metabolism, appetite, and health. But this is just the beginning. Where will this science take us next?"🚀 What do you think—are GLP-1s the future of weight loss and longevity, or just another pharmaceutical trend? Let’s discuss!🎧 Subscribe & Stay Tuned for More Science-Driven Insights!United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

We don't mean to throw cold water on the hottest health and wellness trend. In this episode, we will examine the latest scientific research on Cold water Immersion. It seems everyone is doing it! Tech bros, business moguls, athletes, celebrities, and even high school jocks are all taking cold water plunges, cold showers, and feeling invincible like the celebrity cold influencer Vim Hof. What is the benefit and how much is hype? We love natural and low cost wellness habits here at Pequot. Let's find out in this podcast, brought to you by Pequot Health Care. United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

A review published this November 2024 in the BMJ Public Health examined many behavior change techniques (BCTs) used in lifestyle interventions to improve chronic diseases. The study found that 3 specific BCTs- goal setting, self-monitoring, and getting feedback were consistently effective in promoting healthy behaviors and help reduce the risk factors linked with chronic non-communicable diseases.United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

In this episode, we talk with Al Lewis about all things health literacy. Can improving health literacy improve engagement and health behaviors? Al Lewis is the founder of Quizzify, whose mission is to help companies teach their employees to utilize healthcare services appropriately, using a format best described by Al Lewis as Jeopardy®-meets-health benefit education-meets-Comedy Central. According to Al, Quizzify is the only vendor authorized to display the Harvard Medical School “Veritas” shield.United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

In this episode, Jeff Hogan, a respected leader and veteran in the health benefits space, talks about his "Why"- why it is life's mission to improve health care quality and affordability. It is personal for him now at this stage of his career. Learn about his life and career trajectory from New Jersey to Cape Cod, to Mass and finally Connecticut and his work advising small employers and Fortune 500 companies.Jeff and I talk about how 'value' is defined in healthcare. Jeff is an expert on the role of C-suite as a fiduciary when it comes to health benefits and how the CAA will accelerate this role with a greater emphasis on transparency. We discuss the big challenges posed by rising healthcare costs and the big opportunities that lie ahead of us. United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

In this episode, I share our experience with cancer prevention and multi-cancer early detection at the Tribal Nation. This episode was recorded at my speaking engagement at The Conference Board 24th Annual Employee Health Care Conference on March 19th, 2024 in San Diego. We will review the burden of cancer in Native communities, the risk factors, the earlier age onset and later stage at diagnosis, and the overall lower life expectancy. We will focus on how as a nation we need to accelerate primary prevention of cancer while we also encourage early detection with screening tests that are recommended by the USPSTF. We will review how multi-cancer early detection with Galleri by Grail fits into our population health strategy at the Tribal Nation.United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

In this episode, I interview Kevin Kumler, President of Virta Health US. Kevin shares his personal and professional journey leading up to Virta. Kevin shared the big, bold mission statement that all Virtans live by- To reverse  diabetes in 100 million people. He shares their successes, lessons learned, and their go-to-market strategy. We talked about the food as medicine movement, food insecurity and loss of natural traditional food sovereignty that is at the root of many chronic diseases. We had to explore the tsunami of the GLP-1 meds and how they fit into a large scale, societal challenge. Finally, Kevin gave us a preview of big news to come regarding the impact of Virta on GLP-1 use and weight loss. Check out his sneak peek in this episode. United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Ge Bai on what drives healthcare costs in the US. She had some surprising insights to share. Ge Bai, PhD, CPA is a Professor of Accounting at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and Professor of Health Policy & Management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. An expert on health care accounting, finance, and policy, Dr. Bai has testified before House Ways and Means Committee, written for the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, and published her studies in leading academic journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and Health Affairs.United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

It’s time to radically transform healthcare affordability. We agree.In this episode, we meet with Ashok Subramanian, CEO of Centivo-a next-gen health plan that is built to be used. Centivo is an innovative health plan for self-funded employers founded on the belief that everyone deserves quality care at a price they can afford.Ashok shares his personal journey and his experience building services and business in healthcare space.  He shared great insights that will benefit employers, brokers, and other folks who are innovative doers in healthcare industry.At Pequot Health Care, we align with Centivo's mission--to bring affordable, high-quality healthcare to the millions of workers who struggle to pay their medical bills.United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

In this episode, we talk with Eric Arlia, VP of Pharmacy Services at Hartford HealthCare about critical drug shortages that disrupt and impact patient care in the United States. Eric talks about his professional journey that led him to be the leader of a large health system pharmacy. His team is leading many innovations in care delivery. Eric talks about three major drug shortages that are a huge problem.  He shares strategies and tactics that his health system uses to mitigate and adapt to the critical drug shortages. United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health. 

In this episode, we talk with Chris Manzi, President of the Pequot Health Care. We talk about employer sponsored health benefits, and how the owners, CEOs and CFOs can get better value health for their plan members. United States is going to spend over 6.8 Trillion dollars a year on healthcare by 2030. Almost 90% of employers think the cost of providing health benefits would be unsustainable in the next five to 10 years. Meanwhile, Americans have the highest maternal and infant mortality, the lowest life expectancy at birth, and the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions among high-income countries. At Pequot Health Care, we work with innovative brokers, consultants, and employers who have had enough. Our mission at Pequot Health Care is to help people get Better Value Health. Through our independent Third Party Administration service along with our independent and truly transparent clinical pharmacy service, we help you bring down the giant costs- of diseases and of drugs. Visit us at pequothealthcare.com and let us talk about your wishes and ideas for Better Value Health.