Featured Topic: Mastering the Macro: 5 Strategies You Need to Know to Impact the #1 Cost Driver on All Health Plans

Rising healthcare costs remain the single largest driver of benefit expenses for employers. This session will equip you with five proven strategies to manage and reduce costs while safeguarding employee health and satisfaction. We’ll explore practical solutions that combine smart risk transfer, proactive health management, streamlined care access, and price control measures that deliver real results.

What You’ll Learn:

• Evaluate Risk Transfer Solutions: Identify and implement the right mechanisms to protect your organization from catastrophic claims while maintaining robust employee coverage.
• Design Proactive Management Systems: Build integrated approaches to chronic condition management, incorporate expert second opinions, and refine prior authorization processes to lower costs and improve outcomes.
• Implement Strategic Price Controls: Leverage effective cost-containment tools across provider networks and pharmacy benefits to achieve measurable savings without reducing care quality.

Speaker: Heather Acerra, Employee Benefits Consultant, Cottingham & Butler

Heather Acerra is a group benefits consultant and small business owner. She has over twenty years of human resources leadership experience including compensation and benefits consulting, staffing and employee engagement, and training and organizational development. Heather is passionate about helping employers design plans to attract and retain employees in a cost-effective manner. In her role as College Relations Chair on the HRA of Greater Oak Brook Board, she enjoys helping college students learn about the disciplines of human resources and benefits. Heather and her husband invented an award-winning educational toy called Lux Blox. Founding a small business which manufactures and distributes domestically and internationally has provided her with first-hand experience of the challenges and excitement of today’s economy.

Meeting Agenda:

-11:30-11:50 Check-in & Networking

-11:50-12:00 Chapter Announcements & Speaker Introduction

-12:00-1:00 Presentation, Q&A 

Guests:

-Member: $30

-Non-Member: $40

-First-time guests can join for free - reach out to Allison Gottwald at agottwald@eastersealsci.com for more information.

Registration Deadline: Monday, August 11 @ 5pm

Location:

-The Warehouse on State: 736 SW Washington St Peoria, IL

Thank you to our meeting sponsor, Jesse Hall of Morgan Stanley!

For more information about Morgan Stanley, reach out to Jesse here: https://advisor.morganstanley.com/jesse.hall