Lifelong
lessons
A long-standing passion for health care has fueled Marybeth Gray from the beginning
M
Marybeth Gray’s enthusiasm about the future of health care is palpable.
“We’re going to see more change in the next five years in health care than we have in the past 50 years.”
She talks excitedly about the possibilities unlocked by the Human Genome Project, including emerging treatments for muscular dystrophy involving the use of genetic editing with molecular scissors to repair faulty genetic material.
“We used to watch the Jerry Lewis Labor Day Telethon every year when I was a kid, and now they’ve discovered ways to treat so many conditions,” she says. “You think about diseases we’ve lived with for generations, and now there are 55 gene therapies in the pipeline for FDA approval in the next 24 months. It’s going to be world- and life-altering.”
The standard treatments for cancer–chemotherapy and radiation–were developed in 1967, the year, Gray notes, that she was born.
“It’s old technology, like me. Now there’s immunotherapy,” she says, pointing to new work that is being done with COVID-19 mRNA vaccine technology to seek out and kill cancer cells.
“In 10 years, we will have cured cancer,” predicts Gray. “I believe with new technology we are getting really close.”
Cures are costly
But Gray also understands that these revolutionary advances in health care come at a very high price. “My job is to try to figure out how employers can pay for it,” she says.
Gray is senior vice president, health & welfare consulting at Trion, a Marsh & McLennan Agency, where she builds bridges across the widening gulf between the care people need and the cost employees pay for it. Her message is simple: It should never be a choice between saving dollars and saving lives.
“Marybeth is someone who constantly pushes the envelope to be the best advocate and business partner to her clients, whether it be considering the value of the latest innovations or strategies, diving deep into market trends that impact employer-sponsored benefits or working to hold carriers accountable to the promises made during pre-sale,” says colleague Theresa Stenger, employee health and benefits consulting practice leader for MMA’s East region. “A lot of brokers look to keep up with the market, but Marybeth looks to push the market to where it needs to go to better deliver to our clients and their employees.”
Gray is there when clients receive million-dollar claims, like lightning strikes, that they think must be a mistake but aren’t. And she believes employers will be the catalyst for change, bringing guidance to employees who receive a scary diagnosis and don’t know where to turn in today’s fragmented health care market.
“Employers are trying to recruit and retain good talent to run a business, and health care benefits are the second-highest business expense to payroll,” says Gray. “Health care is a key lever to use when recruiting and retaining employees and it’s the best place to add empathy. I stand in front of employers every single day and tell them they’re what matters. They’re the ones who are going to drive change, so we have to arm them with the ability to do that.”
Gray relies on a team of underwriters, account managers, communication specialists and even a pharmacist to help her develop actionable strategies based on a multitude of client data.
“They look at the data. They rip it apart and then I can make heads or tails of what the strategy should be,” she says. “HR professionals are under water, especially after COVID. They’ve got a lot on their plate, so they need good advisors to make it simple for them.”
Dr. Gray?
Considering her passion for health care, it’s a wonder Gray ended up on the insurance side of the health care industry instead of in an operating room.
“I did want to be a doctor,” she says.
But her senior year internship at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia changed her mind.
“I got assigned to the trauma center, and it was just awful. I saw multiple victims come in with stab and gunshot wounds.”
As part of an accreditation process, her job was to time how long it took patients to get from the hospital’s helicopter pad on the roof to the emergency room. It was especially hard when children came in, she says.
“It was a very eye-opening glimpse of what our first responders do, and I just didn’t think I could leave it at the door,” says Gray. “I was bringing it home all summer and I wasn’t sleeping and I decided I needed to pick a different profession in order to be on the other side of it.”
After graduating from Penn State with a degree in Health Policy and Administration, her first job was at U.S. Healthcare, then the largest HMO on the East Coast at a time when HMOs were a relatively new concept. Her dad, a retired Marine, used to tell his golf buddies that his daughter worked for HBO, she says.
“I would go visit him and they’d ask if I was on TV. I’m like, ‘What are you talking about? I work in health insurance.’”
She quickly found success and became one of the top salespeople and managers at the firm, which was acquired by Aetna in 1996. She used that as an opportunity to learn about different lines of coverage, including life insurance, disability, stop-loss and pharmacy, and parlayed that knowledge into success managing some of Aetna’s largest national accounts. A brief stint as a consultant at Aon followed, which she said was ideal because she knew where the industry’s “fat” was and went after it to save clients money.
Then Marsh McLennan came knocking at her door and offered her a niche opportunity that has kept her at the company for 24 years, leading one of its top teams. Gray and her team recently saved a seven-hospital system in Minnesota $5 million on their pharmacy spend purely through negotiation.
“Hospitals are really in a precarious situation because of COVID,” says Gray. “They lost a lot of money when they shut down all their profit centers, like elective surgeries and imaging, and they are struggling. Finding $5 million without changing anything for the employees was such a huge win. I love that.”
The team also helped a Florida school district save $30 million on pharmacy. “Just think about the books and the bus drivers and all of the things you can do with $30 million. That’s what gets me up in the morning, like toast coming out of a toaster. I love what I do. I love my clients and I love saving them money.”
Always learning
One of Gray’s favorite aspects of her work is public speaking. She participates as a speaker at about 10 conferences per year, sharing her insights about health care that have been gleaned over more than three decades in the industry.
“I love to interact with new clients and new employers and get their perspective on what’s driving costs,” she says. “I always start by listening to them to figure out what they are struggling with. Every single employee is different – different philosophies, different challenges.”
Her advice to those just starting out who aspire to be like her is to immerse themselves in the industry.
“I would say the single biggest thing that I do every day is read,” says Gray. “I set my alarm for a quarter to six. I get my coffee, go back to bed, fluff up my pillows and read for an hour and a half. I read Time Magazine Health. I read Modern Healthcare. I read all of the biopharmaceutical periodicals. There’s stuff in our industry that’s happening every single day, and in order to do what we do, we have to be subject matter experts. That’s what separates our team from other teams.”
Family first
Gray spent most of her career in Philadelphia, where she raised her two sons who she says are the most important thing in her life. Her family-first commitment led her to be something of a trailblazer at MMA. She was the company’s first-ever work-from-home employee.
“I remember when they were recruiting me 24 years ago, I said I’d come to work for them and I’d kill it, but I had to work from home,” she says. “I wanted to get my kids on the bus and off the bus.”
That led to some work-life balance challenges that Gray laughs about today. She recalls having to call her boss to tell him she wouldn’t be able to make an 11 a.m. meeting, because in a late dash to school, she pulled her car out of the garage with its door open. “I have no door on my car,” she told her boss.
“But it worked for me,” she says. “Family
first. I tell young women in my firm,
‘Always put your family first and you’ll
never go wrong.'”
Family has always been a big influence
in Gray’s life—particularly her father.
“He always told me nothing good comes
easy. It’s hard work. Don’t do anything
halfway,” she says. “And he also said
something that I live by: ‘Volunteer for
everything that nobody else wants to do.
It’s the way to truly build your knowledge
and build your career.’”
There’s nothing more important than your
reputation, Gray says, while recalling the
lessons she’s learned.
“Do what you say, say what you are going
to do, and always under-promise and
over-deliver. This is the most fabulous
career to be in.”
“I stand in front of
employers every
single day and tell
them they’re what
matters. They’re
the ones who are
going to drive
change, so we
have to arm them
with the ability to
do that.”
Design by Chris Nicholls