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Daniel Kuzmanovich of the Advisory Board, updates attendees at the Lehigh Valley Business Coalition's 45th Annual Conference on the State of the Healthcare Industry. PHOTO/LVBCH
Health care leaders tackle obesity, energy, Medicaid cuts
Stacy Wescoe//May 20, 2025//
Listen to this articleWhat distinguishes successful companies isn’t time or talent but energy.
That was the message of Suneel Gupta, the founding CEO of RISE, a company focused on the connection between performance and workplace health.
He was the keynote speaker at the 45th Anniversary Conference of Lehigh Valley Business Coalition on Healthcare.
When coaching CEOs of major corporations, Gupta said he encourages them to set aside five minutes every hour for a break and to create a “recovery menu” of short refreshing activities, such as a little dance, petting a dog or calling a friend.
He said rest should be considered a resource for what you are about to do.
Also speaking at the event was Daniel Kuzmanovich, managing director & expert partner at the Advisory Board, cautioned attendees that there should be issues they are keeping an eye on such as how Pennsylvania will respond to federal Medicaid cuts.
He said structural changes include the increased number of people covered through publicly funded health care programs, like baby boomers, enroll in Medicare – which reimburses providers at lower rates than private insurance.
He also noted that younger people are developing chronic conditions, like congestive heart failure and diabetes, earlier in life than older generations. By 2031, one in two American adults will be obese, he said.
Meanwhile, advances in medications over the past five years are creating a shift in treatment from procedures to drug-based care. He pointed to the impact of GLP-1 medications, such as Wegovy, Ozempic and Zepbound.
Niki Patel of Novo Nordisk said people taking GLP-1s are significantly more successful at losing weight, than lifestyle changes alone.
She said that in as little as three months, there’s improvement in health indicators, and studies show that over time, there is a saving in the health care spending for that individual.
Several panelists said it would be easier for employers to offer coverage of these medications if the cost in the United States was similar to other developed countries such as Japan, France, which pay a fraction of the US cost.
