Self-Funded

Spencer Smith

spencerharlansmith@gmail.com

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Booking Overview

This is an interview-led healthcare industry show focused on self-funded health plans, employer benefits, and challenging conventional healthcare-cost models, typically featuring CEOs, founders, physicians, and other senior industry leaders. Credible pitch candidates include healthcare executives, benefits and insurance innovators, physician entrepreneurs, and experts with demonstrated results in employer-plan cost containment; booking difficulty is medium.

Metrics

Episodes: 290

Frequency: Multiple_weekly

Rating: 5.0/5.0

Estimated listeners: <1k

Gender skew: Unknown

Location: USA

YouTube: 7.3k subscribers

Contact Information

spencerharlansmith@gmail.com

For verified host and producer emails, sign up to view.

Host

Spencer Smith - Host of Self-Funded, focused on actionable strategies for benefits consultants and employers seeking to improve healthcare plans and challenge conventional healthcare-cost models.

Booking Intelligence

Booking Requirements

medium
Typical Credentials:  
Healthcare CEOs, founders, senior benefits and insurance executives, physician entrepreneurs, and established experts with direct experience in employer-sponsored healthcare or self-funded health plans.
Required Achievements:  
Executive leadership at healthcare, benefits, or insurance organizations, Founding or building healthcare companies, Clinical or physician leadership, Practical expertise in employer health plans, insurance funding, or healthcare cost containment

Recent Guest Discussions

Dena Bravata M.D. - Healthcare Spending, Employer Health Plan Costs, Alternative Funding Mechanisms, Medical Cost Drivers, Mental Health, Substance Use, Pharmacy Spending, And Care Navigation.

Tom Stein - The Philosophy, Psychology, Economics, And History Of U.s. Healthcare; Insurance Carrier Dynamics; Self-funding; Level-funding; Employer-sponsored Healthcare; And Healthcare Policy.

Sid Sinha - Healthcare Fraud, Healthcare Affordability, Glp-1 Coverage, Hospital Price Transparency, Digital Health Tools, And Cost-containment Strategies For Self-funded Plans.

Recent Topics

Self Funding, Employee Benefits, Health Insurance, Healthcare Costs, Benefits Consulting

Episodes

Here's the recent few episodes on
Self-Funded
:

Why Every Broker Needs A Fiduciary Co-Pilot | with Charlie Gragg

July 21, 2026

"I relate it to one of the Wizard of Oz characters... I've seen behind the curtain. I know how it's all put together."What happens when a man who spent nearly five decades inside every corner of the self-funded industry decides his final act is to give the playbook away?My guest this week is Charlie Gragg, a true first-generation veteran of self-funding. Charlie started in the late 1970s underwriting stop-loss cases on napkins from payphone booths, went on to run his own TPA...

The 2026 State Of Healthcare Spend | with Dena Bravata M.D.

July 17, 2026

"Employers have the right to expect much more from their benefit consultants than ever before. This isn't just about managing the fully insured renewal anymore."In this week’s special bonus episode, I’m joined by Dr. Dena Bravata, physician, healthcare entrepreneur, and Clinical Advisor for ParetoHealth, to break down the findings from Pareto’s inaugural 2026 State of Healthcare Spend Report.Based on responses from nearly 1,600 CEOs, finance, and HR leaders, Dena and I unpacked ...

The Philosophy of U.S. Healthcare (And Why It Resists Change) | with Tom Stein

July 14, 2026

"This is why insurance is such a beautiful problem... there is no solution. There are only psychological or philosophical answers to it."What if the rising cost of health insurance is a deeply ingrained philosophical problem?My guest this week is Tom Stein, CEO of American Trust Administrators (ATA). But this episode isn’t just a tactical breakdown of stop-loss and aggregate underwriting; it is a masterclass in the history, psychology, and economics of the U.S. healthcare system.Tom...

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