Becker’s Healthcare Podcast Summary

Episode: Where Payer Strategy Meets Execution With Benefitbay CEO Brandy Thompson
Release Date: February 22, 2026
Host: Scott King (Becker’s Healthcare)
Guest: Brandy Thompson, CEO & Co-Founder, Benefitbay

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the evolving landscape of payer-provider relationships in healthcare, with a particular focus on the ways payer strategy often misaligns with operational execution. Brandy Thompson, CEO of Benefitbay, shares candid insights into the administrative and technological challenges facing health plans, explores opportunities for innovation, and discusses regulatory and market shifts shaping the future of healthcare benefits for employers and employees.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Brandy Thompson’s Background & Motivation

[01:02 – 01:56]

• Brandy climbed the ranks through operations and finance, with academic credentials in accounting and an MBA in finance.
• Her drive to innovate in healthcare comes from understanding both employer and employee perspectives—balancing affordable benefits with business needs.
• Benefitbay’s mission focuses on enabling employers and broker consultants to maximize defined contribution models and add consultative value.

2. Changing Provider Relationships Amid Cost & Workforce Pressures

[02:13 – 03:07]

• Significant market uptake of Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements (ICHRAs) is shifting administrative burdens.
• Providers and payers are uniting over shared technology and cost pressures, investing in digital transformation to enhance the member experience.
• Both sides are more motivated to integrate systems directly to avoid escalating administrative costs.

  “There’s enough of just a momentum overwhelming across all aisles... Come on, we’re smart people, let’s solve these problems.” – Brandy Thompson [03:31]

3. Increased Collaboration Driven by Mutual Regulatory Pressure

[03:07 – 04:07]

• Broad regulatory and operational stress has fostered a sense of partnership, not rivalry, between payers and providers.
• Legacy technology and traditional processes have long perpetuated inefficiency—a reality now widely acknowledged.
• Administrative complexities (e.g., prior authorizations) are a common pain point, but the collective will to fix them is at a high.

4. Where Payer Strategy Fails to Meet Execution

[04:07 – 05:28]

• Health insurance carriers tend to plan ahead strategically, but execution lags, failing to keep pace with real-time market needs.
• Recruiting challenges and resource constraints slow operational agility.
• The industry’s entrenched processes make it “move like such slow cruise ships” and “constantly taking on ice and taking on water.”

  “To turn and move the iceberg is not something they can do...we’re constantly taking on ice and taking on water due to the speed at which these payers can move.” – Brandy Thompson [04:23]

5. Game-Changing Investments for Health Plans

[05:28 – 06:34]

• Streamlining compliance: Reducing outdated administrative habits, like reliance on faxes, in favor of more modern, efficient workflows.
• Attracting new talent: Bringing in motivated innovators will help reduce administrative costs and solve entrenched issues.
• Both steps are essential for plans to operate cost-effectively and respond to evolving regulatory environments.

6. Regulatory or Industry Changes to Enhance Affordability & Access

[06:34 – 07:27]

• Brandy spotlights the need to fix silver tier affordability regulations so affordability can be calculated on off-exchange products—speeding up quoting and improving employer and employee choice.

  “That would move speed to quote in this environment. It would also accelerate a pace for employers to be able to make decisions and make choice available to their employees...” – Brandy Thompson [06:54]

7. Pressures on Health Plan Margins & Responses in 2026

[07:27 – 09:59]

• Administrative bloat: Multiple intermediaries between patient and provider inflate costs and create failure points.
• Providers face excessive hurdles due to preauthorizations and multiple rules, preventing focus on care delivery.
• Brandy critiques blind optimism in AI, given high denial rates—prefers reducing administrative friction over new tech for routine care.
• Benefitbay’s direct connectivity to health plans minimizes costly intermediaries, eases reconciliation, and reduces the “food chain tax” (often 10–15% of healthcare spend has nothing to do with access to care).
• Improving margins will require breaking out of entrenched 30-year-old processes and focusing on accountability, directness, and operational efficiency.

  “When you insert multiple people into the food chain... you also have a cost for each one of those solutions. And so that drives up the cost.” – Brandy Thompson [09:05] “We need to get out of our own way in some of those routine care access challenges. I don’t think AI is the answer.” – Brandy Thompson [08:40]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote/Insight | |-----------|---------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:34 | Brandy | “Being in that operations and finance seat ... drives the passion for Benefitbay and what we do here.” | | 03:31 | Brandy | “There’s enough of just a momentum overwhelming across all aisles ... let’s solve these problems.” | | 04:23 | Brandy | “They move like such slow cruise ships... taking on ice and taking on water.” | | 06:54 | Brandy | “That would move speed to quote in this environment ... and drive consumer accountability.” | | 08:40 | Brandy | “I don’t think AI is the answer. We’ve seen a lot of incorrect denial rates ... that have caused risk.” | | 09:05 | Brandy | “When you insert multiple people into the food chain... you also have a cost for each one of those.” |

Important Segments & Timestamps

• Brandy’s Background & Motivation – [01:02–01:56]
• Evolving Provider Relationships – [02:13–03:31]
• Industry-wide Motivation for Change – [03:31–04:07]
• Strategy vs. Execution Gaps – [04:07–05:28]
• Investments/Initiatives for Coming Years – [05:28–06:34]
• Regulatory Priorities for Affordability & Access – [06:34–07:27]
• Marginal Pressures and 2026 Actions – [07:27–09:59]

Summary Takeaways

• Payer-provider dynamics are evolving to more direct, technologically connected relationships, driven by mutual cost and regulatory pressures.
• Legacy processes and slow-moving execution remain healthcare’s Achilles’ heel—modernization and talent infusion are urgently needed.
• Regulatory tweaks (like recalibrating affordability benchmarks) could rapidly improve speed, access, and consumer choice for employers and employees.
• Simplifying the administrative “food chain” and focusing on operational efficiency will reduce wasteful spend and improve plan margins.
• Collaboration, not competition, will drive true progress: “Thought sharing is how we’re going to solve this problem.” [10:09]