Dr. Marty Makary, bestselling author and 27th Commissioner of the FDA, opened with The Price We’re Still Paying, framing the two days that followed: the cost, the waste, and the misaligned incentives built into American healthcare. The room recognized it immediately. Too often a plan responds after a condition has escalated and the expensive claim has been paid, when there are fewer options left and the member already has a worse outcome. 

Strategy Day built the case for moving earlier. TJ Carrender laid out the hidden barriers to better results, and Gautam Kumar showed how preventative AI reaches members while a decision can still change, rather than explaining weeks later what already happened. The pharmacy panel, moderated by Craig Lack with Paul Pruitt and Justin Jasniewski, made clear that drug costs are no longer one line item among many. John Holt challenged the assumption that the best carrier discount produces the best financial outcome, and Preston Pomykal made the sharpest case on site of care. 

Execution Day turned strategy into practice. Redmond Sherwood walked through moving from renewal shock to control on catastrophic member coordination, and the employer panel moderated by Todd Linn, with Bruce Tap and Irina Kirsanova, gave the room unfiltered stories of what benefits decisions look like from the inside. 

Across every session the standard was the same. Employers are offered more solutions than ever, and the answer is not to add every program, but to build a disciplined strategy and hold each partner accountable for what actually happened.