David contorno is one of america's most innovative benefits leaders forbes

3/17/16, 1:12 PMDavid Contorno Is One Of America's Most Innovative Benefits Leaders - Forbes
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PHARMA & HEALTHCARE 3/16/2016 @ 11:23AM 559 views
David Contorno Is One Of America's
Most Innovative Benefits Leaders
Everyone talks about healthcare’s dysfunction
and out-of-control costs. I’ve been on a quest
over the last several years to find the “health
reform” that few talk about–the do-it-yourself
variety. A set of benefits leaders have not only
tamed the healthcare cost beast, they are
showing that the best way to slash healthcare
costs is to improve health benefits.
Underlying political unrest that is in the
headlines is the fact that the middle class has
gone backwards in the last 20 years as a direct
byproduct of healthcare’s hyperinflation.
Consequently, it paints the picture that
healthcare is the single greatest immediate threat
to America. As I’ve spoken around the country,
it’s clear that company leaders are boiling mad
and want to revolutionize health benefits
purchasing. They are demanding that their
benefits brokers step up their game. It’s great to
share stories about leaders who didn’t simply
throw up their hands about healthcare’s under-
performance–they were committed to restoring
the American Dream that has been taken away
from many. The C-suite and benefits leaders I
present are champing at the bit for proven
models of success.
Dave Chase Contributor
Startup Capital, Speaker, Entrepreneur, Aspiring Documentarian
Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

It’s inspiring to see employers who have
delivered superior health benefits while spending
50% less per capita. Or, how a small
manufacturer solved healthcare’s most vexing
problem–pricing failure–and were influential in
leading the largest nonprofit health system in the
country to go truly transparent on pricing.
This series will highlight the most innovative
benefits leaders who are ensuring healthcare
realizes its full potential. They don’t accept we
have to leave a disaster behind for the next
generation–the largest generation in history is
increasingly saddled with a colossal mess by their
parents. Time and again, they show it’s possible
to break the cycle of employers spending more
than enough money to fund great health benefits
and a comfortable retirement yet getting neither
with the status quo. In this series I’ll focus on
benefits consultants, benefits executives and
innovators delivering high-performing benefits.
Some will come from the large benefits
consulting firms such as such as Aon Hewitt,
Mercer and Towers Watson but many are off the
beaten path doing great work.
David Contorno, Image courtesy of David Contorno
David Contorno, Benefits Consultant
Contorno is the CEO of Lake Norman Benefits. I
asked him a few questions he addressed below. I
took note of Contorno when he went with a group
of employers to see how the largest nonprofit
U.S. healthcare system was in a joint venture
with an international innovator a short flight

away. Amazingly, with the highest-quality
results, they are providing open-heart surgery at
a beautiful, modern facility an hour from Miami
for $1,400 versus the average of $324,000 in the
U.S.
Lake Norman Benefits is a mid-size, regional
broker that has 22 employees locally. Their client
profile is typically a private employer with 100 to
2,000 employees.
What is your philosophy for how you approach
benefits, and what kinds of results have you
seen?
We work best with employers that 1) really care
about their employees and want to provide good
benefits 2) are fed up with the costs and lack of
transparency and 3) (and most importantly) are
willing to allow us to make their employees a
little uncomfortable in how they think about
healthcare and health insurance. We deploy
education, technology and thought-provoking
conversations to accomplish an environment
with better health, better coverage and lower
costs.
The first objective I have when engaging an
employer and their employees is to shift the
focus. The most common outlet of frustrations is
directed towards the carrier or the plan. I use the
analogy that being frustrated at the insurance
company for rising premiums is akin to getting
mad at the mailman for delivering a higher
electric bill. This is largely psychological, but if
we are effective at it, it completely changes the
employee’s (a.k.a. patient’s) willingness to use
the tools we can put in place.
Once this occurs, the tools we use become far
more germane. Also, as the fully insured market
matures under the ACA market reforms, there is
rapid push toward self-insured plans, even for
smaller employers. Once the transparency exists
in a self-insured plan, we can start to address the
areas of concern. One client we have worked with
over the last five years, a car dealership of around
180 employees, has had nearly zero trend, with

more than one year at a negative renewal. This
has allowed us to improve benefits over time.
They do this by doing several core, simple things:
We armed them with technology that
not only allows them to price
compare prescriptions, MRI’s and
more, but also allows them to speak
to a U.S.-based MD 24/7. And
perhaps most impressive is the push
reminders when they step foot in a
pharmacy, ER, radiology facility, etc.,
to do just that.
There is also a culture at the
dealership that speaks to support
and cooperation when a health event
occurs among one of the co-workers.
Not only do they provide emotional
support, but they support each other
in the core tenets that we teach
toward reducing cost and improving
outcomes.
How you plan to or expect to incorporate the
Health Rosetta?
We are already encompassing some components
of the Health Rosetta philosophy. Employers we
work with encourage tracked usage of a
transparency tool that mainly focuses on
radiology and prescription drugs. For facilities,
we expose employees to Leapfrog and CMS
quality ratings. We are also engaging reference-
based pricing models more actively. We do all
this by using our in-house or sometimes
outsourced concierge-style assistance. Our
objective is to show employees how and why to
use these tools, so they can become more self-
sufficient and these ideals can become ingrained.
But until that point, we handhold them through
the process.
Here’s what a client (Veda Dry, HR Manager of
Gerry Wood Auto) had to say about Contorno:

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“
Well, for one, I will say that education is key when
trying to understand your own healthcare. David has
“opened our eyes” to how much actual control we
have over our own medical costs. Not only have we
been doing a health fair every year to raise
awareness for each employee on how to better take
care of our own bodies, we also have a flu clinic in
the fall with a local pharmacist coming straight to us
for that added convenience. When David first came
to us, he often talked about how we are “in control”
of how much our healthcare costs. Although there
are certainly costs beyond our control, it seems so
simple to me how we can make a difference together.
Yes, David talked about the utilization of things like
“Healthiest You,” but I feel it’s even larger than that.
We need to stress, and we do, that the employee has
to make the first step. We have to continue to make
them a “believer.” I have had the opportunity to
search the market for services such as David pointed
out, for MRIs (as an example), because they are so
popular. The costs TRULY are astounding! The two I
researched within a two-month span were a
difference of night and day! One provider, for the
same MRI, would charge $2,000.00 while another
facility that was a mere 15 miles away would charge
$944.77. Another instance was $1,734.82 versus
$698.06! When I explain to the employee it is
coming straight out of their pocket, they are finally
able to see the light! Wow, it’s completely mind-
boggling to me! It’s all in the perception. David
makes a clear statement every time he comes to
speak to us. When you put it all together, along with
searching out your prescriptions and knowing the
costs involved in your “co-pays,” that is a BIG one.
It’s not just the “co-pay!” It’s the figure behind it and
understanding how it all works! When a drug at XYZ
Pharmacy costs $145.00 with a co-pay of only
$10.00 and another pharmacy ABC charges $55.00
with a co-pay of $10.00, why would the employee
care? It’s because that difference has to be paid
somehow and adds up quickly. It will surely come
back to “bite” us in the long run.

This article is available online at: http://onforb.es/1Xv3CWE 2016 Forbes.com LLC™ All Rights Reserved
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