Introducing The EOB News Desk! 🚨

Healthcare costs are rising, insurers are facing major lawsuits, and federal regulators are pushing for greater transparency. But what do these headlines actually mean for employers and their health plans?

In this new edition of The EOB Podcast, Justin Leader and Julie Selesnick break down the biggest stories shaping the healthcare benefits industry.

The hosts discuss newly finalized healthcare transparency regulations following their trip to Washington, D.C., Michigan's antitrust lawsuit against Blue Cross Blue Shield, ongoing payment disputes involving Anthem, and mounting concerns surrounding the No Surprises Act.

They also examine projected 2027 employer healthcare cost increases, questionable cost-saving strategies, and how AI-assisted medical coding could be contributing to nearly $1 billion in additional healthcare spending.

With their signature mix of industry expertise, candid commentary, and humor, Justin and Julie go beyond the headlines to explore the underlying problems driving healthcare costs and what employers should be paying attention to.

Tune in for the headlines, stay for the insights, and discover why the future of healthcare benefits is anything but business as usual.

What if fixing healthcare starts with employers taking back control?

In this episode of The EOB Podcast, Justin Leader and Julie Selesnick sit down with Dave Chase, co-founder of Health Rosetta and author of Relocating Health: Taking Back Health Care, Rebuilding Communities, for a conversation about the future of employer-sponsored healthcare.

Fresh off RosettaFest 2026, Dave shares his perspective on how the Health Rosetta movement has evolved from a group of early adopters into a growing national movement challenging the healthcare status quo.

The conversation explores why rising healthcare costs aren't simply a benefits problem—they're an economic and community problem. Dave explains how healthcare dollars flow out of local economies, why employers have more control than they may realize, and what it means to reclaim "health sovereignty."

Justin, Julie, and Dave also dig into PBM contracts, transparency, fiduciary-grade health plans, employer accountability, the changing role of advisors, and whether today's healthcare transparency efforts are actually creating meaningful price discovery.

Plus, Dave discusses the ideas behind Relocating Health and the "Health Rosetta dividend"—the idea that dollars no longer wasted on healthcare can instead support wages, jobs, schools, infrastructure, and local communities. If employers truly want to change healthcare, the question may no longer be whether alternatives exist. It's whether they're willing to choose them.

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If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to The EOB Podcast and follow along as Justin and Julie continue breaking down the contracts, costs, and complexity behind employer-sponsored healthcare.

Have a topic you want us to tackle—or want to join us for a future Friends with Benefits conversation? Connect with The EOB Podcast and let us know.

Follow The EOB Podcast:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-eob/

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Connect with Dave Chase & Health Rosetta:

Dave Chase: https://davechase.org/

Dave on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chasedave

Health Rosetta: https://healthrosetta.org/

📖 Learn More About Relocalizing Health Explore Dave's latest book and his work to help employers, advisors, and community leaders take back control of healthcare spending:

https://davechase.org/

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First you feel ICK… and then you go RAA!

View The Individual Coverage Model Notice Here: http://eobpodcast.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/individual-coverage-model-notice.pdf

This episode was shot on August 14th, 2026.

ICHRA—Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement—has gone from a niche benefits concept to one of the hottest conversations in employer-sponsored healthcare.

After talking with Patrick Moore at RosettaFest, Justin and Julie realized something: they needed to learn a whole lot more about ICHRAs. So that’s exactly what they did.

In this episode of The EOB Podcast, Justin and Julie break down what an ICHRA actually is, how it works for employers and employees, and why more benefits professionals and plan sponsors are starting to pay attention. They dig into everything from employer contributions and employee classes to affordability, ACA premium tax credits, ERISA obligations, adoption trends, broker compensation, individual-market limitations, portability, and the pros and cons for both employers and employees.

And while ICHRA adoption is still small compared with traditional employer-sponsored coverage, the numbers discussed in the episode suggest interest is growing—and Justin argues it has reached the point where employers and advisors should at least understand it as another potential tool in the benefits toolbox.

So, are ICHRAs the future of employer-sponsored healthcare? A useful option for certain employers? Or another complicated benefits acronym with a whole lot of fine print?

Justin and Julie are figuring it out right along with you.

🎙️ Listen to the full episode of The EOB Podcast and tell us what you think: ICHRA—👍 or 👎?