From Cost Shift to Care Shift: Tom Armani on Value-Based Primary Care and Personalizing Benefits - Beyond the Paycheck

Topics in this episode

employee benefits Total Rewards financial wellness healthcare affordability benefits strategy

Episode notes

Summary High-deductible plans were meant to save money - but for many employees, they’ve created “functional uninsured” risk and delayed care that drives bigger costs later. Tom Armani, most recently Director of Global Benefits at Dayforce and a 20+ year benefits leader, unpacks how employers can reverse the affordability crisis while improving outcomes. He explains why self-funded benefits should be run like a small business, the misaligned incentives across carriers, providers, and PBMs, and how value-based advanced primary care can lower total cost of care. Tom shares a practical model he implemented - partnering with a curated marketplace of independent primary care groups with fees at risk and clinical reconciliation. He also tackles the engagement gap: why point solutions go unused, how just‑in‑time personalization (via claims and wearable data) boosts relevance, and how to do it within HIPAA using vendor-led outreach. The episode closes with actionable steps for financial wellbeing - from capturing the employer match to using HSAs/FSAs and advocacy partners - plus a call to build healthcare literacy so employees can actually navigate their plans.