Live Event: What’s Driving Healthcare Costs and Where Employers Still Have Control

Healthcare costs continue to rise. For many employers, that reality has become familiar—even expected.

But the real challenge facing HR leaders, executives, and business owners today isn’t simply the size of the number on the renewal. It’s understanding why costs are rising, where the money actually goes, and how meaningful control is still possible inside a system that often feels opaque by design.

That question—how do employers find clarity and control inside an increasingly complex healthcare system?—is at the center of the 2026 LoVasco Benefits Briefing, an in‑person event we’re hosting on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at The Townsend Hotel in Birmingham, Michigan. We invite HR leaders, executives, and business owners to attend, ask questions, and walk away more educated and confident than when they arrive. That’s our intent, and our promise.

👉 Register for the 2026 LoVasco Benefits Briefing

The Problem Isn’t Just Cost—It’s the System Behind the Cost

Employers are often told that rising healthcare costs are inevitable: inflation, utilization, new technologies, an aging population. While those factors matter, they don’t tell the full story.

Behind employer healthcare spend sits a system shaped by opaque pricing structures, misaligned incentives, and layers of intermediaries across hospitals, pharmacies, and care delivery networks. Traditional market dynamics—transparency, competition, and price sensitivity—rarely apply in the ways employers expect.

As a result, many organizations feel stuck reacting to cost increases instead of proactively shaping outcomes. This year’s Benefits Briefing is designed to step back and examine that system—not from theory, but through practical, real‑world perspectives from those who operate within it and employers actively navigating it.

The year’s session of our annual Benefits Briefing will explore:

• ​How healthcare pricing actually works, why traditional market forces rarely apply, and where employers can exert meaningful influence over hospital costs and site-of-care decisions.
• ​Why pharmacy spend continues to outpace other healthcare costs, how money flows through an increasingly opaque system, and what employers need to understand to create leverage. ‍
• ​How confusion and friction in the healthcare experience drive avoidable utilization, and what targeted guidance and transparency can accomplish. ‍
• How organizations of varying sizes are managing risk, making tradeoffs, and adapting their approaches to healthcare benefits.

​This gathering offers a unique opportunity to hear from healthcare insiders, employer peers, and subject-matter experts who bring practical, real-world perspectives to a complex system. Whether you are actively exploring changes or simply seeking greater clarity, this session is designed to inform better decision-making over the long term.  

A Discussion‑Driven Format Built for Real Insight

The 2026 LoVasco Benefits Briefing is structured as a half‑day, in‑person session featuring fireside‑style conversations, expert perspectives, and an executive roundtable. The focus is not on product pitches or quick fixes, but on helping employers better understand where leverage actually exists.

The session will explore four core areas shaping employer healthcare strategy today:

1 - Healthcare Pricing & Market Dynamics: Why Healthcare Doesn’t Behave Like a Market

Employers often assume healthcare pricing works like other markets—competitive, transparent, and responsive to cost pressure. In reality, hospital pricing follows a very different set of rules.

This session will explore how pricing is established behind the scenes, why price competition rarely materializes, and where employers can realistically influence hospital costs and site‑of‑care decisions.

Featured speaker: Shane Cerone, CEO, Kada Health

2 - Care Access, Navigation & Transparency: How Employee Decisions Drive Outcomes and Cost

Once a health plan is in place, employee decisions about where and how to access care play a significant role in both outcomes and total spend. Confusion, friction, and lack of guidance often lead to avoidable utilization and higher costs.

This discussion will examine how clearer navigation, better transparency, and targeted support can meaningfully change employee behavior—and why improving the care experience is a critical part of cost control.

Featured speakers:

• Dean Jargo, CEO & Founder, Fair Market Health
• Shannon Biergans, CEO, Advocate LLC
• Dr. Paul Thomas, CEO & Medical Director, Plum Health

3 - Pharmacy Economics: Following the Money Behind Healthcare’s Fastest‑Growing Cost Driver

Pharmacy spend has become one of the fastest‑growing—and least understood—components of employer healthcare costs. Complex pricing models, rebate structures, and incentive misalignment make it difficult for employers to see where dollars are flowing.

This session will unpack how the pharmacy benefit system works, why costs continue to accelerate, and what employers need to understand to create leverage in this area.

Featured speaker: Trevor Daer, President & Founder, Granite Peak Analytics

4 - Executive Roundtable: Real Challenges, Real Decisions, Real Outcomes

The briefing will conclude with an executive roundtable featuring employer leaders who will share candid perspectives on what they’ve tested, what’s worked, what hasn’t, and how they’re approaching healthcare strategy amid uncertainty.

Rather than offering one‑size‑fits‑all answers, this conversation will highlight how organizations of different sizes are managing risk, making tradeoffs, and adapting their approaches over time.

Panelists include:

• Rob Dancer, CFO, Educational Data Systems Inc.
• Kevin Roach, CEO, MHCS Family of Services
• April Matalavy, CHRO, First State Bank

Why This Briefing Matters Now

Whether employers are actively exploring plan changes or simply seeking greater clarity, the ability to understand the system behind healthcare costs is becoming a prerequisite for better long‑term decision‑making.

The 2026 LoVasco Benefits Briefing is designed to provide that perspective, grounded in real‑world experience, informed by those inside the system, and focused on helping employers regain a sense of control.

For questions, email event moderator Luke Trocchio at ltrocchio@lovascogroup.com.

Event Details

📍 The Townsend Hotel | Birmingham, Michigan
🗓️ Thursday, February 12, 2026
🕣 8:30–11:45 a.m. (Continental breakfast served at 8:00 a.m.)
🚗 Complimentary valet parking included

Space is limited based on venue capacity.

👉 Register for the 2026 LoVasco Benefits Briefing

We look forward to welcoming HR leaders, executives, and business owners for a thoughtful and practical conversation about what’s driving healthcare costs—and what can be done about it.