Becker’s Healthcare Podcast: Interview with Steve Tringale, President of Mass General Brigham Health Plan

Date: November 23, 2025
Host: Jacob Emerson
Guest: Steve Tringale, President, Mass General Brigham Health Plan

Episode Overview

This episode features an in-depth conversation with Steve Tringale, President of Mass General Brigham Health Plan. Tringale discusses the organization’s entry into the dual eligible special needs plan market, their strategy around digital and community-based investments, and how the health plan is navigating an evolving healthcare policy environment. He also shares actionable leadership lessons for other industry leaders.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Building a Comprehensive Product Portfolio

• Background: Steve Tringale brings more than 30 years of experience and has shaped the vision for Mass General Brigham Health Plan since 2020.
• Portfolio Highlights:
  • Commercial products
  • Medicare Advantage
  • One of Massachusetts’ largest Medicaid ACOs
  • Launching dual eligible products for under 65 (One Care) and over 65 (Senior Care Options) in 2026
• Mission: “We have taken that in our focus on the member as sort of our North Star and have built out a full product portfolio...” (00:51)

2. Entering the Dual Eligible Special Needs Plan (D-SNP) Market

• Strategy:
  • Building on success in Medicaid with ~150,000 members
  • Estimating 20,000 current members eligible for D-SNP offerings
  • Aim: Provide additional benefits, improved care coordination, and address social determinants of health
• Collaboration:
  • Integration with Mass General Brigham’s delivery system is vital to supporting care models
  • Community-based partnerships are intentionally included for holistic support
• Notable Quote:
  • “This does a couple of things for us. One, it provides...a much, much better opportunity for those members who we believe are eligible. And two, it really is the crucible. It's the pressure test for our ability to work closely with and integrate with the delivery system...” (03:59)

3. Leveraging Digital and Community Investments

• Digital Platform:
  • Invested in a digital care management system fully synchronized with the provider side—real-time data improves service delivery
  • “We have built out and invested in a digital care management platform... coordinated with an identical care management platform that the delivery systems population health service organization has provided.” (07:02)
• Targeted Clinical Interventions:
  • Special programs for complex conditions (diabesity, behavioral health, senior isolation)
  • Intensified offerings for women’s health
  • Expanding home health solutions: infusions, hospital-at-home care, in-home services
• Impact:
  • These initiatives are tailored to meet the nuanced needs of dual-eligible and high-complexity populations
• Notable Moment:
  • “Directly making services available that focus on those very prevalent problems related to isolation and loneliness that we see in the senior market.” (10:28)

4. Navigating Healthcare Policy and Market Dynamics

• Approach:
  • Remaining mission-focused amidst evolving federal and state regulatory changes
  • Product diversity enables agility and resilience
  • Comprehensive service and coverage maintained, regardless of potential funding shifts
• Policy Quote:
  • “As long as we stay focused on what is ultimately best for our member, the delivery systems patients, and that's our North Star...that will continue to focus us on supporting a full portfolio of products…” (12:36)
• Commitment:
  • “That's not a decision we're actively contemplating, Jacob, we're all in right now. So our goal on a day to day basis is trying to figure out how to best provide those services to our members.” (15:35)

5. Leadership Lessons for Health Plan Executives

• Workforce Communication:
  • Intentional internal communication is critical for guiding rapid pivots and change
  • “If you think you're doing enough communication with your teams right now, I'd say take that level of communication and multiply it by at least two and that should be your goal for the next year.” (16:33)
• Mission Focus:
  • Decision-making “logic filter” is based on what improves member experience, community health, and overall wellbeing
• Growth Mindset:
  • Rejecting strategies that “shrink yourself into success”; instead, the focus is sustained, aggressive growth
• Brand Loyalty:
  • Members’ diverse needs across the lifecycle demand a full suite of products and a commitment to service consistency
• Leadership Quote:
  • “You need to be all in and you need to be all in across all the product lines because your members are going to be looking for very different things through their own life cycle.” (19:17)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Duals Strategy:
  “We viewed it as sort of, you know, essential for us to really reach the highest levels of what we're trying to do from a mission perspective.” (05:17)
• On Digital Investment:
  “We coordinated our investment with a similar investment on the delivery system that we think is going to pay huge dividends.” (08:11)
• On Policy Agility:
  “We share sort of a dual responsibility to provide them with the best packages of services, both clinical and from a health insurance perspective that we can.” (14:43)
• On Workforce and Mission:
  “Communication is extraordinarily important...As long as we sort of pass all of our initiatives through the logic filter of does it improve the experience clinically, does it improve the day to day experience of the member, does it improve the members overall well being and does it improve the health status of our communities? If we stay focused on pushing sort of all of our initiatives up against those challenges, it pretty much tells us where we need to go right now.” (18:01)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00 – Introduction and Steve Tringale’s background
• 01:54 – Mass General Brigham Health Plan’s product portfolio
• 02:31 – Rationale and vision for entering the dual eligible market
• 06:12 – Estimated potential dual-eligible membership
• 06:57 – Digital and community-based investments for care improvement
• 11:28 – The role of policy and market diversity in resilience
• 15:56 – Leadership advice on communication, mission, and growth
• 20:04 – Closing remarks and final insights

Tone:
Steve Tringale’s language throughout is clear, strategic, and mission-driven, with a pragmatic focus on partnership, integration, and “being all in” on innovation and service excellence.