Employers Look to Peer Insights, Networking at GPBCH Annual Conference: Tom Belmont, CAP

With rising health care costs and changing policies, employers must find innovative ways to engage employees in their health, a challenge set to be addressed at this year’s Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health (GPBCH) Annual Conference. The conference will explore how employers can drive sustained engagement by aligning organizational goals, holding partners accountable, and staying agile in a fluid environment, explained Tom Belmont, CAP, CLU, ChFC, RHU, REBC, president and CEO of GPBCH.

While the agenda includes insights on high-cost claims, glucagon-like peptide-1 medications, and state and federal policy changes, Belmont says the most valuable part of the day may come from the conversations between attendees, where thoughtful dialogue often leads to actionable strategies.

The Annual Conference will be held on June 5, 2025, at the Philadelphia DoubleTree.

This transcript has been lightly edited; captions were auto-generated.

Transcript

As ​​employee engagement with benefits continues to be a challenge, what strategies are showing the most promise in driving sustained engagement?

I think what you'll hear from the speakers is more along the lines of it's not a set-and-forget type of thing. You don't just put a stake in the ground and say, "Hey, we got engagement." You really need to continually go at it. It is an organizational objective; it's not just an HR [human resources] objective or a C-suite objective. It is the whole organization focused on this.

I think the messaging you'll hear is, as we look at health care today, you've got a lot of different solutions that employers are putting into place. What the successful employers are doing is really spending a lot of time making sure they're holding all of their partners accountable and making them aligned in terms of how they communicate with employees and help them reinforce and drive engagement in the way that the employer wants engagement driven.

What session are you most looking forward to at the GPBCH Annual Conference this year?

I would say to you, I'm excited for all of it, which is probably what you expected me to say. That's my answer, not an answer. But I think what I'm really most excited for is the networking that will go on throughout the day and listening to what some of our members have to say about the presentations and how they are thinking about it; how it impacts their thinking. That's really been the hallmark of our meetings—those employers that come to these meetings are very thoughtful in what they're looking at.

How they take this information, synthesize it, and turn it into an action plan for their organizations—to me, that is the most thrilling part of the day.