Episode 13 – Special Guest Rachelle Firestone of Kenan Advantage Group

Mike Stull (0:09)

Hello and welcome to the Employers Health HR Benecast, your monthly source for clarity on health benefit trends and strategies. This is your host, Mike Stull. We’re excited to welcome you back after a long hiatus and appreciate your listening.

In today’s episode, I’m interviewing Rachelle Firestone, Director of Benefits at Kenan Advantage Group and the winner of the 2019 Excellence in Benefits Award. We presented the award to Rachelle at our recent Innovations in Benefits Conference held here in Canton in May. We’ll put a link to the video we showed during the award presentation in the show notes.

Before we get into the interview, a reminder that as we have done in the past, we’ll be giving away a $50 Visa gift card to the listener who correctly submits this episode’s keyword. I’ll be sharing the keyword later in the show or even during the interview, so be sure to listen closely. As a preview to the interview, this is the third year we’ve recognized a benefits professional with the Excellence in Benefits Award.

The award was created to recognize an individual who has made meaningful impact in the field and or delivery of employee benefits. And recipients are nominated by their peers, colleagues, supervisors, or even supplier partners for the award. A panel of third-party independent judges then review the nominations and select the winner.

Employers Health at its core is about helping benefits professionals succeed, so it only makes sense that we recognize that success and the good work going on within our member organizations and clients. So let’s jump into the interview. All right, we’re joined by Rachelle Firestone of the Kenan Advantage Group.

Welcome, Rachelle.

Rachelle Firestone (2:01)

Thank you.

Mike Stull (2:02)

And to get us started, can you share a little bit about yourself and how you got started in benefits?

Rachelle Firestone (2:07)

Many moons ago, when I was first attending college, which, you know, I had to pay for myself, got a job at Aetna Life Insurance in one of their claim offices in Akron.

So finished up school, but I had been working there for, you know, the full four years, four and a half years, and I kind of liked it, so stayed with it. So started entry level and pretty much worked my way up through all of the claims, through management, and then basically they closed that claim office, so I decided we’re going to go to the employer’s side of the house when I started at Roadway Express. So had both then the insurance side of the house and the employer’s side of the house, and here I am today.

Mike Stull (3:00)

So after Roadway, you went, was that First Merit?

Rachelle Firestone (3:04)

Yeah, Roadway Express was bought by Yellow, and I think I stuck around for about five years after that, and then left and went to First Merit Bank, and spent about 18 months there, and then moved over to the Keenan Advantage Group, so it was kind of like coming home. After being at Roadway for 15 years, when I worked at the bank, I always knew I had said terminal as opposed to a branch, because people looked at me really funny, so yeah.

Mike Stull (3:34)

And can you tell the audience a little bit about Keenan Advantage Group?

Rachelle Firestone (3:38)

Sure, Keenan Advantage Group is the largest bulk tank carrier in the United States.

We have four platforms. We have our Merchant Gas Group, we have our Specialty Products Group or our Chemical Group, we have our Fuels Group, and we have Logistics. Also Canada, we have Western Canada Operations.

We today have 7,185 professional drivers. We have 293 terminals and satellites, and in 2018, we hauled 26 billion gallons of refined petroleum, so we really are the largest. We grow through acquisition.

We’re kind of growing organically now with a very large push for drivers, which is drivers are hard to find out there and keep, not something that the younger generation is jumping into, so just working with that, but Keenan Advantage Group is a family. It truly, truly is.

Mike Stull (4:48)

And it’s kind of a well-kept secret to some extent around Northeast Ohio.

I know I had never heard of Keenan Advantage Group because it works primarily behind the scenes, but then once you recognize the trucks, you see them everywhere. Seems like every state I go to as I travel around, I end up beside or behind or in front of a KAG truck.

Rachelle Firestone (5:16)

Yeah, absolutely.

We had at one point, say now, we have probably 20 different subsidiaries, and that’s why we started the push. So Merchant Gas Group involves our Jack B. Kelly trucks, our Cryogenic Transportation trucks, Transport Services. You know that you’ve really made it when you’ve seen every single truck across the United States.

Mike Stull (5:50)

So, yep, I finally did that on my last trip to LA. I saw a KAG West truck, so I’m complete. Checked all the boxes.

Rachelle Firestone (5:52)

Checked all the boxes, yes sir.

Mike Stull (5:54)

So what’s the, when you think about your role at KAG, what’s the most rewarding part of it?

Rachelle Firestone (6:01)

For me, it truly is the people. I love the drivers.

Those guys are a salty group of people, but it really is fulfilling to help them through their, whatever it is they need, especially in the benefits area. Those are up close and personal type of things that an employee goes through. So it’s really fulfilling to kind of help them through that process and help them understand the process.

Mike Stull (6:34)

And their health, if I recall correctly, I mean, their health has an impact on their ability to perform their jobs, maybe more so than others. So blood pressure, high blood pressure, diabetes, those types of things.

Rachelle Firestone (6:51)

Absolutely.

So all of our drivers have to be Class A CDL drivers, and in order to do that, they are subject to the DOT regulations in the United States, and it makes them a little bit of a suspicious group of people. They kind of resist the wellness a little bit because they don’t know what you’re doing and who you’re going to tell. And it is, they’ve got windshield time, and that’s about all they have.

And they do, they move hoses and those types of things. But yeah, it’s very difficult to kind of get them on board with the wellness. So I’ve been at Kenan Advantage for seven years, and we’re just starting to make a little bit of inroads into that.

Mike Stull (7:42)

So from our experience working with you, it’s clear that, you know, fun is a big element at the KAG and in the benefits department in particular. And can you tell the audience, you know why that’s important to you?

Rachelle Firestone (8:00)

Well, anyone who works in benefits, and we’re talking the breadth of benefits, we’re not just talking medical, dental, we’re talking life insurance, you know, critical, you know, illness coverage, it is, it can be very depressing sometimes, and very sad sometimes, you know, when you have to deal with this. And in our business is actually a very dangerous business, you know, we can have rollovers at any time.

And if you don’t make it fun, you’re going to burn out really quickly. And everyone knows that I am the comic relief at the Kenan Advantage Group. The older I get, the better I get at it, too.

So, you know, we just and that’s our family there at work. I spend more time with the people at work than I do with my own family. So if you can’t have fun, it’s going to be a long day.

Mike Stull (8:58)

Yeah. And I would say to go with fun, the other piece is just authenticity. So, right.

It’s it’s not a it’s not a fake self or it’s not a work hat that you put on. I mean, who you get is

who you get.

Rachelle Firestone (9:14)

Who you get is who you get.

Yeah. And that is me.

Mike Stull (9:17)

And we appreciate that for sure.

So in terms of biggest challenges, I think I think we hit on some of the big challenges that you have with your particular population. I’m curious what you think in today’s changing landscape, what the big challenges are for benefits professionals.

Rachelle Firestone (9:39)

That’s a very interesting question.

I looking at that landscape and you’ve got the large PBMs buying the health insurers and large health insurance companies buying the PBMs and, you know, touting everything that they can do, you kind of feel like a guinea pig for a little while. So I think in in the next five to 10 years, that holistic treatment of an employee is really going to come into play. But I think for us as benefit professionals, we’re going to have a little bit difficult time navigating what you believe in, what actually can be done and how you get your employees engaged because, you know, people don’t like to engage.

Mike Stull (10:28)

Yeah. When I think getting some, you know, additionally getting maybe some expectations from top leadership in terms of what do they really want to prioritize? Because I know I said it at an annual meeting a couple of years ago in jest, but even the 15 years I’ve been here, the priorities of benefits professionals have gone from, you know, don’t disrupt anyone. Then it was don’t disrupt anyone but make people healthy.

Then it was don’t disrupt anyone, make people healthy, make the supply chain more efficient, save money, cure the specialty drug problem. And so you have this whole litany of things that leadership expects of the benefits team. Well, at the same time, the benefits teams aren’t necessarily getting any bigger.

And so unless you invest in additional resources for those teams, you have to start prioritizing what it is that you want them to accomplish.

Rachelle Firestone (11:34)

Very true. Yeah.

And I think we find that, you know, our C-suite is like any other C-suite, you know, could you do more for less? But they’ve got to start taking the risk because you’re going to end up spending a little more to help yourselves because there is nowhere else to go. You can’t do any more plan design changes, or you don’t make yourself marketable as an employer. But if you don’t start taking some risks to see that long-term investment, it’s not going to work.

But it’s hard to talk your CFO into that.

Mike Stull (12:11)

Yeah. It’s a long-term problem and you’re trying to manage it in a short-term framework.

And that just it doesn’t always work. So we’ll kind of wrap up here from an Employers Health perspective. So you’ve been engaged with us for probably about a decade now.

Curious how you’ve seen the support and resources from an Employers Health. How have we helped you succeed in your role managing the benefits?

Rachelle Firestone (12:43)

My comment earlier about, you know, what the landscape is starting to look like, you know, Cigna buys Express Scripts, CES Canada buys Aetna. I rely on an Employers Health to be an extension of my team at work.

And I always feel that that’s exactly what an Employers Health does for us. And an Employers Health is that go between that makes sure that they’re on top of everything that’s going on currently. And, you know, I have so much going on at work.

I know it’s out there, but I can’t really dive into it. And that’s what an Employers Health does for us. And it is it’s it’s a membership I don’t think we’ll ever get out of.

You kind of have to be a loony tune to do that because you just need someone helping you. And this is outside of your broker to to kind of help you work that those those challenging things that are out there. Everything that an Employers Health puts on, you know, the meetings in Columbus for the legal things.

I mean, there are so much out there. By the way, that meeting always scares the living crap out of me. So if that was the mission, mission accomplished.

Mike Stull (14:06)

Well, it’s coming up again.

Rachelle Firestone (14:07)

I know.

Mike Stull (14:08)

That was a good plug for it.

Rachelle Firestone (14:09)

Yes, it was. But that is, you know, what Employers Health does for us.

Mike Stull (14:16)

Well, good.

And I think, you know, we always, you know, will hear, well, I have my consultant, I have, you know, my team. Why? Why do why do I need a third set of eyes? And I always want to just ask the question back. Oh, you have it all figured out, do you? So I don’t think in this complex environment that having additional help, unless you believe that you’re not paying too much for health care and you’ve got it all figured out, I don’t think having additional eyes on it and additional ideas is a bad thing.

Rachelle Firestone (14:54)

Absolutely not. I totally agree with that.

Mike Stull (14:57)

Great.

Well, thank you, Rachelle. We appreciate you being with us today and also congratulations again on being the recipient of this year’s Excellence in Benefits Award. As we said in the awards presentation, we’re really, really thrilled to be able to recognize the good work that you’ve done at the KAG and appreciate the partnership that you’ve built with our team.

Rachelle Firestone (15:24)

Thank you so much for having me.

Mike Stull (15:26)

Great. I hope you enjoyed that discussion.

I know I certainly enjoyed having it with Rachelle. Nominations for the 2020 Excellence in Benefits Award will open in January. So keep an eye out for more details and start thinking about nominees that you think are deserving of the recognition.

And now on to some exciting things we have going on at Employers Health. As I sit here recording this episode, the official announcement hit the press about a new PBM offering to Employers Health members with EnvisionRx. A subset of our team has spent the last 18 months or so meeting and evaluating different PBMs in the marketplace, seeking an option that provided not only competitive discounts and rebates, but also additional levels of transparency and flexibility that will allow us to react to this changing PBM marketplace while helping plan sponsors not just save a lot, but get to truly a lowest net cost.

We know that a one-size fits all approach doesn’t work for our clients and prospective clients, and so we believe that this pass-through model will provide an alternative approach for clients really wanting to get to that lowest net cost. It also provides us the flexibility needed to innovate moving forward. We’ll have an interview with a member of the leadership team from EnvisionRx in an upcoming episode of the podcast.

In the meantime, you can check out the Employers Health website to learn more.

Next, in just a few months, we’ll be hosting the Employers Health and Wealth Administrator Workshop. This is the event that Rachelle mentioned in the interview, and this is the third year that we’ve held this event, and like years before, it’ll be open exclusively to employers.

It’ll be held August 15th, and it will again be at the Hilton Columbus at Easton. The speakers that we have lined up will cover topics including recent wellness rulings, marijuana in the workplace, best practices for successful health savings accounts, benefits, and more. You can see the full agenda of speakers and register today at employershealthco.com/events.

Again, that’s employershealthco.com/events. There’s always something new at Employers Health, and so I would encourage you to follow our social media channels on LinkedIn and Twitter to stay updated. Again, we encourage you to submit questions regarding HR benefits and the value of membership that you find in Employers Health.

You can do so by completing the field on the landing page or clicking the link titled submit your questions here, and be sure to tune in to our next episode in August to hear the answers to those questions.

With that, the key word for this episode, and if you’d like to be considered for the $50 Visa gift card, the code word is excellence. So again, if you would like to be considered for the $50 Visa gift card, please submit that code word excellence along with your name and email address using the link on the landing page.

That’ll conclude this month’s episode. Thank you to Rachelle for joining us, and thank you, the listeners, for taking the time to listen. But more importantly, thank you for your continued membership and interest in Employers Health.

Don’t forget to submit your questions so that we can answer them in upcoming editions of our podcast. We hope everyone has a safe and happy Independence Day and also a safe and happy start to your summers.

Be well, and we’ll see you soon.