Becker’s Payer Issues Podcast

This episode recorded live at the Becker's 3rd Annual Spring Payer Issues Roundtable features Mark Rich, Former President and current Board Member of Steward Health Care System LLC. Mark shares insights from the provider and ACO perspective on accelerating value-based care, aligning payer-provider collaboration, and leveraging actionable data to drive both affordability and improved outcomes.

This episode recorded live at the Becker's 3rd Annual Spring Payer Issues Roundtable features Lawrence Hamilton, Executive Vice President, The Permanente Medical Group. Lawrence discusses the power of payer-provider alignment in delivering population health, advancing health equity across service lines, and using real-time patient feedback to enhance care experience and outcomes.

This episode, recorded live at the Becker's 3rd Annual Spring Payer Issues Roundtable, features Dr. Aisha Rahim, Medical Director and Co-Lead, AI Governance Council, Johns Hopkins Health Plans (JHHP). Dr. Rahim discusses how JHHP is leveraging artificial intelligence to manage costs, close care gaps, advance health equity, and enhance member engagement across a diverse population.

In this episode, Dr. Jennifer Nuovo, Chief Medical Officer of Blue Shield of California’s Promise Health Plan, joins Jakob Emerson to discuss how her team is increasing access to preventive care, addressing health disparities, and building community trust through targeted outreach, innovative programs, and a focus on whole person care.

Stacy Edgar, Co-Founder and CEO at Venteur, joins the podcast to discuss how her organization is working to strike the right balance between affordability and quality in healthcare. She highlights initiatives that support new mothers in navigating their healthcare journey and emphasizes the importance of understanding and aligning with partners to drive meaningful outcomes.

This episode recorded live at the Becker's 3rd Annual Spring Payer Issues Roundtable features Dawn Maroney, Chief Executive Officer of Alignment Health Plan and President of Alignment Health. She shares how Alignment uses AI-assisted care, culturally aware outreach, and a deep commitment to equity to deliver affordable, personalized care for seniors while preserving the human touch at every step.

This episode, recorded live at the Becker’s Hospital Review 15th Annual Meeting, features Nirnay Patel, EVP and GM of Benefits1™ and Chief Digital Officer at Simplify Healthcare. He shares how integrated benefits data, AI, and platform thinking are transforming payer operations and personalizing the member journey across Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial markets.This episode is sponsored by Simplify Healthcare.

This episode recorded live at the Becker's 3rd Annual Spring Payer Issues Roundtable features Dawn Maroney, Chief Executive Officer of Alignment Health Plan and President of Alignment Health. She shares how Alignment uses AI-assisted care, culturally aware outreach, and a deep commitment to equity to deliver affordable, personalized care for seniors while preserving the human touch at every step.

In this episode of the Becker’s Healthcare Podcast, Lukas Voss is joined by Chad Kersting, Business Development Director, and Dr. Eric Gratias, National Physician Executive of Medical Benefit Services, both from EviCore by Evernorth. Together, they explore the evolving landscape of utilization management (UM) beyond prior authorization—highlighting common misconceptions, the challenge of underutilization, and the growing push toward preventive, personalized care. Tune in for real-world examples, emerging strategies, and a future-focused look at how UM can better serve both clinicians and patients.This episode is sponsored by Evernorth.

This episode recorded live at the Becker's 3rd Annual Spring Payer Issues Roundtable features Samuel Wollner, Vice President, Strategy and Partnerships, EmblemHealth. He shares how EmblemHealth is advancing health equity, leveraging Net Promoter Score for improvement, and focusing on deep community engagement to transform care delivery across New York.