Side Affects Episode 140 | Beyond the Norm: Alternatives to Traditional Health Plans

·36 min·2 clips

Dean says Sidecar health makes employees act as “consumers in the truest sense of the word.”

1. McGohan Brabender’s Side Affects episode 140 focuses on alternatives to traditional health plans, with Dean Stitz comparing Sidecar Health, Ohio Healthy, and ICRA. 2. Kenzie McEvely hosts alongside Dave Holman, and Dean Stitz appears as MB senior consultant from the Columbus office. 3. The episode asks what health plans are “for” when employers want options beyond Anthem, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, Aetna, MMO, and standard PPO or HSA designs. 4. Dean defines the traditional market through the BUCA carriers and the split between fully insured and self-funded coverage. 5. He says the traditional model is “pretty close to vanilla” and notes that it no longer seems to be doing the job for every client. 6. Dean frames alternative coverage as still “comprehensive” and says the three options discussed are part of a progression, not an extreme break from major medical. 7. Sidecar Health is introduced as a Ohio-born model now used nationally, built around every doctor’s cash price. 8. Dean gives a knee-scope example in which one doctor charges $600 cash, another $500, and another $400, with the employer allowance changing what the employee pays or keeps. 9. He says a worker can pull up an app, compare three options, and in one case even net $100 back from the allowance. 10. Dean says the Sidecar approach requires employees who can act as conscious consumers and do some upfront work before care. 11. He cites employers in HVAC and masonry as examples where the model has worked and says some employees received year-end credits ranging from $35 to $500. 12. Ohio Healthy is described as a narrow-network style plan tied to OhioHealth and positioned as a modern version of the HMO concept. 13. Dean mentions OhioHealth’s reach across Central Ohio, Mansfield, and Bellefontaine, and says the plan also wraps in Aetna and other networks for out-of-state workers. 14. He says Ohio Healthy is easier to explain because “Ohio Health” is in the name, and the market advantage comes from a roughly 65% discount when members use OhioHealth facilities. 15. ICRA is expanded as Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Account, and Dean describes it as replacing group insurance with individual policies. 16. He uses an example where an employer gives $800, a family buys a $2,000 plan and pays the $1,200 difference, and a 27-year-old chooses a $400 plan and keeps the remainder as medical-use money. 17. Dean says the real caution across all three options is employee disruption, so education and support have to be built into the rollout. 18. The tone stays practical and conversational, with Kenzie and Dave asking setup questions while Dean answers with examples, hand gestures, and light jokes about insurance jargon. 19. Employers exploring cost control, benefits strategy, and alternative plan designs. 20. Listeners wanting pure insurance basics without plan redesign detail.

As heard by us

A practical look at non-traditional health plans that makes cost control feel concrete.

Dean Stitz keeps the discussion grounded in a real problem: health care costs, and the awkward fact that many employers still buy benefits as if one size fits everyone.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you want a practical tour of non-traditional health plans, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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