If you'd like your question answered on next month's episode, call/text 469-213-6381 and leave us a voicemail/text.

Each month on Last Month In Healthcare, producer Nathaniel joins me to discuss the previous month's podcasts, headlines, and listener-submitted questions. This month, we were joined in studio by Shawn Ferguson from Acrisure!

This episode covers healthcare news from May 2025, including:

- Trump's 'most favored nation' executive order

- AI in the FDA

- FDA's plan to review chemicals in our food supply

- Prices for new drugs doubling in the last 4 years

- Hospitals outsourcing minor surgeries

- The DOJ lawsuit against Aetna, Elevance, and Humana

And we play a new game called the Macro Matchup, where Spencer and Shawn attempt to guess the calories, sugar, fat, and protein of 4 very unhealthy fast food items.

Chapters:

0:00 - Intro

1:01 - Healthcare Headlines

18:21 - The Self-Funded Review

31:29 - Macro Match-up (this month's game)

38:06 - Ask Spencer Anything

Sources:

• https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/trump-most-favored-nations-drug-pricing-plan/747761/
• https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/us-fda-centers-deploy-ai-internally-immediately-2025-05-08/
• https://www.reuters.com/world/us/fda-plans-review-chemicals-us-food-supply-official-says-2025-05-15/
• https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/prices-new-us-drugs-doubled-4-years-focus-rare-disease-grows-2025-05-22/
• https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/innovation/healthcare-diversified-hospitals-are-outsourcing-minor-surgeries
• https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/us-files-false-claims-complaint-against-three-health-insurers-2025-05-01/

"I want to be in our own category." - Rob Gelb

I recently joined Rob Gelb, CEO of Vālenz, which is a sponsor of this show, at the Vālenz office in Philadelphia to discuss the story of the company, how it operates in the market currently, and it’s future, which includes the recently announced Vālenz One.

Rob describes VālenzONE as a “health plan optimizer”, and we discussed what that means and what it looks like to build a new way for employers to manage their healthcare. We also discussed the healthcare market as a whole, what it’s currently lacking, and Rob’s general philosophy of how he’s approached building this new platform.

Tune in this week to learn all about VālenzONE!

Chapters:

(00:00:00) What Is VālenzONE? | with Rob Gelb
(00:08:03) How Data Can Reduce Health Plan Spend
(00:19:48) How Vālenz Has Transformed Over The Years
(00:22:43) What Does Optimized Healthcare Look Like?
(00:36:58) Why Integrated Health Solutions Are The Future
(00:41:34) Innovative Healthcare Collaborations
(00:50:17) What Does It Mean To Be Innovative?

Key Links for Social:

@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFunded

Listen/watch on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286

Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/

Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/

“We show…very similar weight loss outcomes to GLP1 in a similar timeframe at a fraction of the cost, but sustainable through behavior change." - Colin Rogers

Colin Rogers, VP at Signos, joined me for episode 200! On this special episode, we talked about something I’m very passionate and vocal about: weight loss for everybody.

Signos combines continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), our phones, and AI to track longitudinal data and help educate and prompt members to make better health decisions. If you’re into personalized population health, then this is the episode for you!

On one of our earliest episodes, a guest shared that the best way to solve the problem of healthcare is to produce less disease. GLP-1s definitely appear to have a role to play in that, but as Colin shares on this episode, the more we can achieve GLP-1 results in a way that’s sustainable, the better, for employers and for America.

Chapters:

(00:00:00) GLP-1 Weight Loss At A Fraction Of The Cost | with Colin Rogers
(00:11:29) Real-world CGM Data Impact
(00:15:26) Health Programs for Metabolism Control
(00:21:37) Real-time Glucose Monitoring Devices Empower Employees
(00:36:03) How CGMs Can Optimize A Health Plan
(00:42:05) Why This Data Is So Powerful

Key Links for Social:

@SelfFunded on YouTube for video versions of the podcast and much more - https://www.youtube.com/@SelfFunded

Listen/watch on Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/1TjmrMrkIj0qSmlwAIevKA?si=068a389925474f02

Listen on Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-funded-with-spencer/id1566182286

Follow Spencer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/spencer-smith-self-funded/

Follow Spencer on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/selffundedwithspencer/