Summary How do you help employees make smarter healthcare decisions in a system that’s anything but consumer-friendly? Nick Getz, National Director of Underwriting & Innovation, Employee Benefits at The Baldwin Group, breaks down how employers can communicate value, drive preventive care, and control rising costs—without overwhelming their people. The Baldwin Group is one of the fastest-growing brokerages in the U.S. with 5,000+ employees, and Nick brings a clear, practical lens: benefits are a retention engine, not just an attraction perk. He shares how to tell the full total-compensation story, why messages need 8–9 touches across existing channels, and how to tailor preventive care to each person’s reality—from GLP‑1 users to simple habit stacking. Nick also explains why U.S. healthcare lacks true consumerism, what that means for navigation and price transparency, and which trends—like pass-through PBMs and regulation—will reshape the employee experience in the next two years. Expect actionable guidance on steering employees to high‑value care, simplifying choices, and preparing for a noisy but necessary wave of change. Timestamps [00:17] – Nick’s role at The Baldwin Group: underwriting innovation, controlling healthcare and pharmacy spend [01:23] – Early money lessons: earning, saving, and the value of choice [02:23] – First jobs and spending that first paycheck—plus the saving lesson that stuck [04:07] – Benefits as retention: telling the total compensation story and what really drives loyalty [06:17] – Communication that works: 8–9 touches, multi-channel, and quarterly focus themes [09:36] – Preventive care redefined: habits, chronic conditions, GLP‑1 use, and meeting people where they are [15:22] – The biggest breakdown: where to go for care and why healthcare lacks true consumerism [19:38] – What’s ahead: regulation as a warning sign, drug costs, transparent PBMs, navigation—and a noisy 2027 Takeaways - Treat benefits as a retention engine—tell the full total compensation story, not just premiums and copays. - Communicate with repetition and variety—use existing channels, aim for 8–9 touches, and theme messages by quarter. - Personalize preventive care—meet people where they are, connect mental and physical health, and promote small, stackable habits. - Steer employees to high‑value care—offer navigation support, explain cost differences, and demystify copays vs. HDHPs. - Tackle pharmacy spend—evaluate transparent, pass‑through PBMs and support access strategies for high-cost, life-saving meds. - Prepare for regulatory shifts—expect noise before clarity; prioritize member experience and cost transparency now. Sponsor Aura Finance helps you simplify compensation and benefits planning by bringing everything into one streamlined platform. No more juggling spreadsheets, disconnected tools, or manual calculations Aura gives you a single place to design, compare, and communicate total rewards packages with confidence. With AI-powered insights, it takes the guesswork and busywork out of comp decisions, helps you spot pay equity gaps early, and makes it easy to model scenarios that keep your teams engaged and your budgets on track. See a demo at https://www.aurafinance.com/
