{"podcast":{"title":"The Business of Benefits Podcast","slug":"the-business-of-benefits-podcast-6744252","podcast_index_feed_id":6744252,"rss_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/show/6053731/episodes/feed","website_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-business-of-benefits-podcast--6053731","image_url":"https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/3f4968159bb4676248d8c564cea163f6.jpg","author":"Hi Hello Labs Network","episode_count":84,"summary":"For decades, employers have been fed a lie: “There’s nothing you can do to control healthcare costs.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. The system is doing exactly what it was designed to do—profit off of HR, CFOs, and CEOs who believe that lie year after year.With 180 million Americans relying on employer-sponsored healthcare, it’s time to challenge the status quo. The Business of Benefits is your No BS, No Sales guide to the real solutions. No gimmicks—just the truth about how to take control, transform your benefits, and care for your most valuable asset: your people.Each episode dives deep into the data, exposing industry misalignments and inefficiencies that inflate costs while offering actionable strategies for designing financially sustainable, high-value benefits.Through eye-opening interviews with industry insiders, expert analysis, and real-world success stories, hosts Donovan and Chelsea pull back the curtain on the hidden flaws in the healthcare system. The result? An empowering roadmap for employers ready to break free from outdated models and unlock smarter, more sustainable benefits.If you’re tired of the same old sales pitch and ready to rethink benefits, re…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-30T22:18:04.175830+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-business-of-benefits-podcast-6744252"},"episode":{"title":"70. Redefining Benefits Leadership w/ Stephanie Porrino & Kristina Ewing","slug":"70-redefining-benefits-leadership-w-stephanie-porrino-kristina-ewing","published_at":"2026-01-29T13:00:10+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-business-of-benefits-podcast-6744252/70-redefining-benefits-leadership-w-stephanie-porrino-kristina-ewing","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-business-of-benefits-podcast-6744252","url":"https://www.spreaker.com/episode/70-redefining-benefits-leadership-w-stephanie-porrino-kristina-ewing--69626090","audio_url":"https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/69626090/episode_70_full_episode_mp3.mp3","summary":"In this episode of The Business of Benefits, host Chelsea Ryckis sits down with two trailblazing benefits leaders, Stephanie Porrino, Director of HR at Hendry Marine Industries, and Kristina Ewing, Director of Health and Wellbeing at Shoestring Valley Holdings at the Best of the Best Florida Healthcare Alliance event. Together, they share their journeys of transforming employer health plans through innovative strategies, data-driven decision making, and bold vendor partnerships, offering actionable insights for employers ready to take control of their benefits and deliver real value to their people. From self-funding and reference-based pricing to no-cost care alternatives and fiduciary governance, Stephanie and Kristina reveal how they navigated complex challenges, disrupted traditional models, and built multi-year benefits strategies that prioritize both financial sustainability and employee wellbeing. Time Stamps: 00:00 – Welcome to The Business of Benefits 01:02 – Introduction to Guests and Episode Overview 02:19 – Stephanie and Kristina’s Backgrounds and Company Profiles 04:10 – Stephanie’s “Aha” Moment: Discovering Healthcare Pricing Discrepancies 07:19 – Kristina’s Journey: Unbundling and Finding the Right Partners 09:31 – The Importance of Ownership and Advisor Switching 10:08 – Kristina’s Multi-Year Benefits Strategy Overview 13:26 – Overcoming Challenges: Member Education and Engagement 15:41 – Vendor Summit and Setting KPIs for Accountability 18:07 – Hendry Marine’s Roadmap to Reference-Based Pricing and Pharmacy Savings 20:54 – Increasing Preventive Care Utilization with Onsite Clinics 25:29 – Financial Performance and Savings Highlights from Shoestring Valley 27:15 – New Program Innovations and Plan Design Shifts at Hendry Marine 30:25 – Managing High-Cost…","meta_description":"In this episode of The Business of Benefits, host Chelsea Ryckis sits down with two trailblazing benefits leaders, Stephanie Porrino, Director of HR at He…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3088,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-business-of-benefits-podcast-6744252/episodes/70-redefining-benefits-leadership-w-stephanie-porrino-kristina-ewing/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-business-of-benefits-podcast-6744252/70-redefining-benefits-leadership-w-stephanie-porrino-kristina-ewing.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}