Steve Barger
Steve Barger Consulting and Retiree First
Job Title: Managing Member & Consultant, Business Development
Member of KHC for: 15 years (since its inception in 2003)
KHC Committee Participation: Executive Committee, Co-Chair
Steve works with plan sponsors in providing affordable health care for Medicare retirees. He focuses on providing experienced support to assist plan participants in navigating healthcare issues that sometimes arise with carriers, providers, and Medicare.
Share your personal interest in Health and Healthcare System Improvement.
My interest in health care was awakened when I became a trustee of the Kentucky Carpenters and Millwrights Benefit Funds in the early 1980s. As a result, I became involved with the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, a volunteer organization that provides education for those involved in employee benefits. Through the IFEBP I became involved with the Change Agent Work Group in developing the Employer Health Asset Management Roadmap further strengthening my interest in population health.
Improving health is one of the three main priorities of the Triple Aim. What are the best strategies for improving health in our community?
Focus on community health care and utilizing benefit design that drives a healthy life style for the populations we are working with. In the U.S. we have excellent medical care for trauma or serious illness. However, we should strive for healthy life style so that we do not need to use this excellent and expensive medical care as often. Where individuals are covered by insurance, a benefit design that allows for preventive care is the key. An example, for diabetics, is free or low cost medicines and eye exams.
Why do you and your organization belong to the KHC? What do you find most valuable as a member?
We participate in the Collaborative for the opportunity to engage in a community conversation around the innovative and effective strategies of our fellow members. It is also valuable to know what is not working. This interaction and sharing of ideas is the true value of the Collaborative.
What is your favorite quote?
I have two:
“An eye for an eye and pretty soon the whole world is blind.” – Unknown author
“I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.” – Abraham Lincoln
