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Emma Fox is a healthcare financing expert and benefits advocate specializing in custom self-funded medical plans. She co-hosts the Healthcare Hangover podcast, created and instructs the Certified Health Value Advisor (CHVA) course, and speaks on cost containment and patient advocacy. Emma founded the Annual YOU Powered Symposium and the Association for Healthcare Advisors (AFHCA). Recognized as a top woman in benefits advising, she mentors in women’s leadership and created the NABIP Leadership Academy. Emma is also a mother, weight-lifter, and friend to all.
Nick Soman, Decent: What first drew you to employee benefits?
Emma Fox: Completely by accident, of course. I was actually placed into an insurance company by a staffing agency 20 years ago. Having just arrived from England shortly before then, the whole concept of health insurance was just as foreign as I was! I did find myself intrigued by how it all worked… or eventually, how it doesn’t work. Then at some point, I began asking why obvious fixes to the most obvious problems were not being implemented and as you can imagine, I kept hitting a lot of corporate walls. I really felt called to carve out my own space to work through the solutions that I could deliver to employers to correct their most common challenges.
Nick Soman, Decent: What guidance would you offer advisors who need to make a living but are tired of selling BUCA (Blue Cross, UnitedHealthcare, Cigna, and Aetna)?
Emma Fox: I encourage everyone to be curious, no matter what stage of your career you’re in or how long you’ve been in the biz. Curiosity is what uncovers the nuisances that help build long-term strategies rather than slapping on short-term fixes. You really have to commit yourself to understanding the intricacies of how the system is currently set up and working. Once you know that, you’ll immediately see how to course-correct. Start with just one thing – maybe it’s understanding how a traditional Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) works, and then doing something different for your clients with their drug benefits. Then once you have that down, go learn about another sector of healthcare. And, along the way, find other advisors you admire and ask how they’re doing it. We’ll gladly share our stories!
Nick Soman, Decent: What are the best and worst things about your job?
Emma Fox: The best thing, by far, is the collective of individuals that are in my business circles. The community in this industry is not only rich with expertise but incredibly generous in sharing relationships. My greatest strength is not what I know, but who I know, and the trust I’ve coveted with those people. The worst thing is knowing that no matter how hard I work, how loud I am, how many appearances or demands I make… I’m never going to be able to fix healthcare for everyone. And sometimes the collateral damage in healthcare is the people… the patients. That’s hard to contemplate on the harder days. I wish I could save them all.
Nick Soman, Decent: What misconceptions about advisors would you like to clear up?
Emma Fox: Something that probably irks me the most in my corner of healthcare consulting is hearing this misconception that small group, fully insured brokers are commission-hungry, money-driven, untrustworthy individuals. Nothing could be further from the truth… Consultants who work in smaller markets have dictated compensation that often leaves them underpaid. The problem is not the folks working on small business America, it’s the large, self-funded consultants (especially at the big houses) who have the largest opportunity to take advantage of inflating compensation and do… And I am a large, self-funded group consultant telling you this. Most independent advisors, regardless of market sector, are working sun-up to sun-down to save their clients from financial hardship resulting from inflated healthcare financing.
Nick Soman, Decent: Who else in healthcare inspires you, and why?
Emma Fox: So many people. I am most inspired by people who demonstrate courage by bending the curve of what we’ve been taught is normal. We don’t have to be aggressive to tell the truth – and I love truth-tellers. I deeply admire people who refuse to participate in the wrong-doings and I especially look up to those that challenge others to do the same. Nancy Giacolone, Chris Deacon, Sims Tillirson, Tiffany Ryder, Dr. Jeff Gold, Nathan Houghton, Chelsea & Donovan Ryckis… So, so many people!
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