For decades, employers have been fed a lie: “There’s nothing you can do to control healthcare costs.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. The system is doing exactly what it was designed to do—profit off of HR, CFOs, and CEOs who believe that lie year after year.With 180 million Americans relying on employer-sponsored healthcare, it’s time to challenge the status quo. The Business of Benefits is your No BS, No Sales guide to the real solutions. No gimmicks—just the truth about how to take control, transform your benefits, and care for your most valuable asset: your people.Each episode dives deep into the data, exposing industry misalignments and inefficiencies that inflate costs while offering actionable strategies for designing financially sustainable, high-value benefits.Through eye-opening interviews with industry insiders, expert analysis, and real-world success stories, hosts Donovan and Chelsea pull back the curtain on the hidden flaws in the healthcare system. The result? An empowering roadmap for employers ready to break free from outdated models and unlock smarter, more sustainable benefits.If you’re tired of the same old sales pitch and ready to rethink benefits, reduce costs, and improve care—this podcast is for you. The truth is out there—are you ready to hear it?
Ethos Effect
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For decades, employers have been fed a lie: “There’s nothing you can do to control healthcare costs.” This couldn’t be further from the truth. The system is doing exactly what it was designed to do—profit off of HR, CFOs, and CEOs who believe that lie year after year.With 180 million Americans relying on employer-sponsored healthcare, it’s time to challenge the status quo. The Business of Benefits is your No BS, No Sales guide to the real solutions. No gimmicks—just the truth about how to take control, transform your benefits, and care for your most valuable asset: your people.Each episode dives deep into the data, exposing industry misalignments and inefficiencies that inflate costs while offering actionable strategies for designing financially sustainable, high-value benefits.Through eye-opening interviews with industry insiders, expert analysis, and real-world success stories, hosts Donovan and Chelsea pull back the curtain on the hidden flaws in the healthcare system. The result? An empowering roadmap for employers ready to break free from outdated models and unlock smarter, more sustainable benefits.If you’re tired of the same old sales pitch and ready to rethink benefits, reduce costs, and improve care—this podcast is for you. The truth is out there—are you ready to hear it?
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Publishing Since
1/4/2024
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Recent Episodes
June 18, 2026
80. Built Different: The Ethos Story w/ Chelsea Ryckis & Donovan Ryckis
The benefits industry is broken. $37,824. That's the average cost of a family of four on an employer-sponsored health plan in 2026 and it's growing at 9% a year. So how did we get here, and what does it actually look like to fight back?<br /><br /><br />In this episode, host Austin Townend sits down with Chelsea Ryckis (President) and Donovan Ryckis (CEO) of Ethos Benefits for the origin story nobody asked for but everyone needs to hear. From Donovan's background as a fiduciary securities advisor who saw the same conflicts in healthcare and couldn't look away, to Chelsea getting hit in the head with a softball and learning the hard way that you can run but you can't hide from medical debt... this is the story of how Ethos was built different on purpose.<br /><br /><br />Take the next step in your career. Start your CEBS journey today at CEBS.org.<br />https://bit.ly/48k4aeZ<br /><br /><br /><b>What You'll Learn</b><br />Why Donovan left a lucrative securities career to fix a bigger problem in healthcare<br />Chelsea's personal experience with medical debt and how it shaped the Ethos mission<br />The real definition of fiduciary — and the three things it actually requires<br />Why there is zero fiduciary standard in insurance (and what that means for you)<br />The $37,824 number every employer needs to hear<br />A claim is a dollar, not a condition — and why that distinction changes everything<br />The four things you can do with healthcare risk: reduce, avoid, retain, or transfer<br />Why brokers go straight to the transfer (and how that lines their pockets)<br />How to vet whether your advisor is actually living the fiduciary standard — not just marketing it<br />Where the industry is headed over the next five years, including PBM legislation and litigation<br />at <br /><br />Connect with Chelsea Ryckis:<br /><br />LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsea-ryckis-8508a192/<br />Connect with Donovan Ryckis:<br />LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donovanryckis/<br /><br /><br />Connect with Austin Townend:<br />LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austintownend/<br /><br /><br />Connect with Ethos Benefits:<br />LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ethosbenefits/<br />Website: https://www.ethosbenefits.com<br /><br /><br />—<br /><br /><br />Finished with the content? Claim your CE credit here:<br />https://ideas.ethosbenefits.com/continuing-education<br /><br /><br />SHRM:<br />Ethos Benefits is recognized by SHRM to offer professional development credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.<br /><br /><br />HRCI:<br />Ethos Benefits is approved to offer HRCI® recertification credits for this program. This program has been approved for 0.5 - 1 HR (General) recertification credit(s) toward aPHR®, PHR®, SPHR®, and GPHR® certification.<br /><br /><br />#EmployeeBenefits #HealthcareCosts #FiduciaryDuty #BusinessOfBenefits #EthosBenefits #HRLeadership #GroupHealthInsurance #BenefitsStrategy #HealthcarePlanning #PBM #ERISA #HealthBenefits #EmployerHealthcare #BenefitsBroker #OpenEnrollment #HealthcareCostContainment #SelfFundedHealthPlan #HRPodcast #BenefitsPodcast #PlanSponsor<br /> <br />
June 4, 2026
79. Stop Ignoring Women's Health Benefits w/ Brittany George
In this episode, host Chelsea Ryckis sits down with Brittany George( insurance industry veteran, founder of Her Consulting, and author of A Tale of Two Births) to pull back the curtain on maternal healthcare in America. Brittany brings a rare perspective: 17 years in health insurance, time at Fountain Health, and two profoundly different birth experiences that changed everything she thought she knew about the system she worked in.<br /><br /><br />They cover the cascade of interventions most women don't know they're signing up for, why the incentives inside hospitals are misaligned against patients, what fentanyl has to do with labor and delivery, and — critically — what self-funded employers can do RIGHT NOW to support the women on their plans.<br /><br /><br /><b>What You'll Learn</b><br />- Why 70% of women get an epidural containing fentanyl — and most aren't told<br />- How a C-section can cost a health plan $80,000–$100,000+ vs. $4,000–$7,000 for a vaginal birth<br />- Why doula coverage is the single highest-impact benefit employers can add today<br />- The downstream health risks for dependents born via C-section — and what that means for your plan<br />- How the birth center vs. hospital vs. home birth decision affects both outcomes AND claims<br />- Why women at every stage — postpartum, perimenopausal, infertile — are being underserved by traditional benefits<br />- What "A Tale of Two Births" taught Brittany about asking better questions in any healthcare setting<br /><br /><br />Connect with Chelsea Ryckis:<br />LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsearyckis<br />Website: https://www.ethosbenefits.com<br /><br /><br />Connect with Brittany George:<br />LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittanyspaziano/<br />Website: https://ataleoftwobirths.com/<br /><br /><br />Connect with Ethos Benefits:<br />LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ethos-benefits<br />YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ethosbenefits<br />Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ethosbenefits<br />Website: https://www.ethosbenefits.com<br /><br /><br />The Business of Benefits Podcast:<br />Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts: Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.<br />Ethos Benefits is a fee-only, fiduciary benefits consulting firm. We don't take commissions. We don't represent carriers. We represent you.<br /><br /><br />—<br /><br />Finished with the content? Claim your CE credit here:<br />https://ideas.ethosbenefits.com/continuing-education<br /><br /><br />SHRM:<br />Ethos Benefits is recognized by SHRM to offer professional development credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.<br /><br /><br />HRCI:<br />Ethos Benefits is approved to offer HRCI® recertification credits for this program. This program has been approved for 0.5 - 1 HR (General) recertification credit(s) toward aPHR®, PHR®, SPHR®, and GPHR® certification.<br />
May 21, 2026
78. The Real ROI of Mental Health Benefits
What if making mental health care completely free for your employees actually lowered your total plan costs?<br /><br /><br />In this solo episode, host Chelsea Ryckis breaks down one of the most compelling case studies in Ethos Benefits' history, a manufacturing company with 350–380 employees that eliminated every financial barrier to mental health care. Zero copays. Zero deductibles. Unlimited sessions. Open network. No prior authorization.<br /><br /><br />The result? 12% utilization (vs. a 4% national benchmark), 594 claims, an average of 14 sessions per member — and a total cost of just $7 per employee per month. Meanwhile, traditional plans with restrictions are benchmarking at $14–$17 PEPM for mental health.<br />Chelsea also covers the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), updated in 2024, and walks plan sponsors through the compliance pitfalls she sees most often — from restrictive prior authorizations to narrow behavioral health networks to inconsistent NQTLs.<br />This episode is for HR leaders, CFOs, and plan sponsors who are tired of designing benefits around fear of cost — and ready to see what happens when you design around actual employee needs.<br /><br /><b>What you'll learn:</b><br />Why EAPs alone are not enough (only 4% of employees actually use them)<br />The real cost of untreated mental health: 23% more absenteeism and 3x higher healthcare costs<br />What a zero-barrier mental health plan design actually looks like<br />How 594 claims over 2.7 years cost just $129 per claim on average<br />The MHPAEA compliance pitfalls plan sponsors overlook — including NQTLs and network adequacy<br />Why the cultural component of mental health support matters as much as the plan design<br />How to audit your current plan for mental health parity compliance.<br /><br /><b>Connect with Chelsea Ryckis:</b><br />LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chelsearyckis<br />Website: https://www.ethosbenefits.com<br /><br /><b>Connect with Ethos Benefits:</b><br />LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ethos-benefits<br />YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ethosbenefits<br />Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ethosbenefits<br />Website: https://www.ethosbenefits.com<br /><br /><b>The Business of Benefits Podcast:</b><br />Subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts: Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.<br />Ethos Benefits is a fee-only, fiduciary benefits consulting firm. We don't take commissions. We don't represent carriers. We represent you.<br /><br /><br /><b>Learn about CEBS!</b><br />In a field as complex as employee benefits and retirement, experience alone isn’t always enough. Credibility matters.<br /><br />That’s why professionals turn to CEBS—the Certified Employee Benefit Specialist designation. Developed in partnership with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, CEBS delivers comprehensive expertise across both group and retirement benefits—equipping you to lead with confidence and authority.<br /><br />Set yourself apart with a designation that speaks for itself.<br />Start your CEBS journey at CEBS.org. <br /><br />https://bit.ly/48k4aeZ<br /><br />—<br /><br /><b>Finished with the content? Claim your CE credit here:</b><br />https://ideas.ethosbenefits.com/continuing-education<br /><br /><b>SHRM:</b><br />Ethos Benefits is recognized by SHRM to offer professional development credits (PDCs) for SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP® recertification activities.<br /><br /><b>HRCI:</b><br />Ethos Benefits is approved to offer HRCI® recertification credits for this program. This program has been approved for 0.5 - 1 HR (General) recertification credit(s) toward aPHR®, PHR®, SPHR®, and GPHR® certification.<br />
81 total episodes available
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