Melissa Anderson: Highmark Health's Long-Standing Commitment to Its Partnership with Bender Consulting Services, Inc., to Hire People with Disabilities in Its Workforce

At Highmark Health, we believe what makes us unique makes us better. Our differences broaden our perspectives and foster a variety of skills to complement each other, creating a stronger and more vibrant workforce. It's this belief that earned us recognition as the Best Place to Work for the 10th year for individuals with disabilities in a survey by the American Association of People with Disabilities and Disability:IN. We'll continue to celebrate and benefit from the inclusion of all people. To find out more, visit highmarkhealth.org. Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone, welcome to the show. This is Joyce Bender on Disability Matters on Voice America. .com and on YouTube. So if you are watching right now and you are a person who is vision impaired, I feel so bad you're missing my wall because I have a purple wall right behind me. I'm wearing a red, red top and curly brown hair, but It's the wall I wish you could see. I have a purple wall. I have a little story to tell you. Many years ago, probably maybe 20 years ago, this young girl who would be an adult now with epilepsy in Canada went to Parliament and said, I want a color for epilepsy, and she chose purple. Here we go. One person, one decision, anything can happen. Now, for all those years and today around the world, purple is the color for epilepsy. And it has been my favorite color since I was a child. So I tell everyone, yep, they called me and said, Joyce Bender, what color do you like? And here we are, we're all purple. No, but it wasn't me. But yes, that is the color for epilepsy. Epilepsy. And as you all know, I'm living with epilepsy. I'm not ashamed I'm living with epilepsy. And I'm hard of hearing in one ear, all from my accident at a movie theater where I fell, fractured my skull, and ended up having life-saving brain surgery. But against all odds, here I am. This is our 30-year anniversary at Bender Consulting Services. And I started this show in 2003. And a few months ago, I had my 1,000th episode. And guess who the sponsor is? Highmark. For years, Highmark has been the lead sponsor of my show. So welcome, welcome. I'm just so happy to have such wonderful listeners all across the United States. So wonderful you are. I mean it. Every one of you listening right now, whether it's on demand or seeing it live on YouTube, I want to tell you, it means so much to me. And around the world, Theo, if you're listening in Brazil, I'm sending a shout out to you and one to Gang Young Cho in South Korea. You know, we have listeners 73 countries, and someday I'm going to be telling you 500 countries. But no matter where you are, tell someone else, tell someone else so that we can let people with disabilities know there is quality of life for them. And there's my shout out, Yoshiko Dart. Special shout out to Yoshiko. Remember everyone, she is the widow of the late, great Justin Dart, the most famous disability rights hero. Uh, Yoshiko, love you, and you'll be hearing me every show for years. I've been getting Yoshiko that shout out. Well, we have a great show today. Speaking of Highmark, which is such a great company and is the way I got started 30 years ago. It was Highmark. That's how I got where we are today. That's why thousands of people with disabilities have jobs all across the United States. And today we have Melissa Anderson, who is the Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at Highmark Health. She's really really smart. So thank you, Joyce Bender. Melissa, welcome to the show. It's a pleasure to have you. Uh, as I said, it's always a pleasure to have anyone from Highmark. So Melissa, let's hear your story. I always tell people that, you know, everyone wants to know a little bit more about my guests. They'll say, wow, that person was Great. I wish I knew more. And that's, you know, across the U.S., but just imagine around the world. So let's hear your story. How about if we start out with your story?

Okay, sounds great. Well, thank you, Joyce, and thank you for having me today. It's been years since we've been working with Bender Consultants, really across the whole enterprise, and we've always had a great partnership with Joyce and her team. And I have members of her team on my team. So we've worked together for many years. But my story, I know you'd asked me once, where did you grow up? Where'd you go to college? How'd you get to Highmark? And I'll take you through that. I grew up here in Pittsburgh, went to Penn Hills, graduated from Penn Hills High School, and then went on to Washington and Jefferson College in Washington, PA. So always had been pretty local to Pittsburgh. Majored in accounting. My first job out of college was with KPMG. At the time, that was the Big Eight accounting firm. So I'm really dating myself because that's It's no longer 8, I think it's more like 4. And as many public accountants do, we get to know our clients, spend time with them, and I was offered a position here. At the time, it was Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania, and became a manager of, in the finance area and accounting and reporting, right at the time that the merger happened between Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Blue Shield. And so I navigated my way through the finance area, to the role of the Chief Accounting Officer and then took the position that I am in today back in 2012 where I have risk as well as compliance and a number of other areas. But over the last 30 years that I've been here with Highmark, I've had probably about 10 different roles. And I often tell people like navigating your career is more of an S-curve than it is a straight line. And you have to kind of build your skillset along the way as you kind of work through an organization. And that's really been my experience here at Highmark.

You know that— do you know you've been there right from when I started the company? Because I started in 1995 with Bill Lowry.

Oh my gosh, yes.

And it was Blue Cross of Western Pennsylvania. And then it became Highmark with he and Keith Katmeyer.

That's right. I started in December of '96. So right at the time, I always tell everybody I started when I was 12. So that's been my journey over almost the last 30 years.

Wow, that is amazing. Well, you grew with me then. There's no question about that. For sure. So Melissa, let's hear what you do. Tell us about your leadership role at Highmark.

Sure. So today, I'm in the role of Executive Vice President, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer for Highmark Health. And as you know, Highmark is an enterprise made up of a number of different companies. So we have Highmark Inc., which is our insurance entity. Many of you know that with the— is associated with the Highmark name. But we also have Allegheny Health Network, which is the provider system, which has hospitals, doctors, et cetera. And so we brought together an integrated enterprise that really has a payer and a provider. In addition to that, Highmark Health also offers a technology company called NGIN. Joyce, you're very familiar with that. I think a lot of your team ends up in a consulting role or working directly with—

Oh, yeah, McMillan. Technology team manager. Yeah, yeah. Go ahead.

And then we also have a dental piece called United Concordia where we offer dental insurance. We have stop loss and some other things. So we're a very diversified company. I have accountability as the chief risk and compliance officer over that entire enterprise. And within my area of accountability, I do everything from pure compliance work to manning the hotline, right, from an integrity perspective and ethics perspective. We do financial investigations and provider review, risk operations, enterprise risk strategy. I have a strategic, strategic enablement and intelligence team. And then I also have information systems and risk management, which includes our cybersecurity function. So all of my functions really are the second line of defense to the business. And the way I look at it is we're protecting the blind side. We've got to be behind the scenes working with our business owners to be sure that we put the right internal controls in place, understand our risks, and protect the company.

You know, something I never thought of, does that, how does that impact customers? Highmark's customers, you do that also?

We do. So we are more behind the scenes. So I think about it in terms of Highmark's customers has very— have very important information, right? We have a lot of information about your own personal health information as well as just everything that kind of creates the DNA of a person. If you think about it from a medical record perspective or from an insurance perspective. So when I think about our role, it's, it's the protections of security, right? Making sure that we've got the digital security that's needed. The right policies and procedures in place to protect us from a compliance perspective. If somebody has an issue, understanding what that issue is and helping them from an integrity and kind of compliance perspective. So we're behind the scenes, Joyce Bender, but we're working every day to protect our members and our patients in a variety of different ways, whether it be digitally through our networks and our systems, or, you know, I have compliance officers on site at every hospital. Right. And we also work with our operations areas from an insurance perspective and making sure that we have the highest quality. Right. And we're compliant with the quality requirements that we have as a Blue Cross Blue Shield plan. So a variety of different ways that we actually interface behind the scenes with our customers.

And Melissa, what is a compliance officer? What is that?

So we are basically enforcing and creating policies relative to our controls. So it can take a number of different, you know, really a number of different tentacles to the job, but it really is being sure that we are being compliant with the regulations. We have a number of regulations. We are a highly regulated industry from an insurance perspective as well as even on the provider side. So I think about we are constantly under audit in terms of state audits, federal audits, uh, insur— from an insurance perspective, from an OIG perspective. So we are helping to make sure that we're in compliant with those rules and regulations, and then also enabling those audits to happen so that, um, Highmark, right, has a— continues to have very high-quality, um, compliance.

Mhm. It is amazing how many jobs there are different positions at an entity. You know, like people think of Highmark, they think insurance, and then they think of AHN, who I'm very proud to tell you that they have really partnered with us, and we've been doing, placing a lot of people with disabilities in the clinical areas. But, you know—

That's fantastic.

Yes. But who would, you know, compliance officer, you know, who would be thinking, yeah, that's going to be my career, being a compliance officer. But it is a very important role.

Yeah. I mean, based on the, you know, really the fact that we have such a highly regulated environment that we operate in healthcare, which makes sense, right? You have to have certain standards. You have to have certain patient safety requirements, right, to protect our patients. You have to also be sure that on the member side that we're meeting the requirements that the insurance department Department puts out. So it's a complex, uh, area to navigate. And not only that, we're in different states, so the Pennsylvania rules aren't the same as the West Virginia, aren't the same as Delaware, different than in New York. New York highly regulated, and we have an entity obviously in New York. So it is very complex, um, when you think about the level of, uh, compliance that we need and the breadth of which we have to cover from an enterprise perspective. Yeah.

Yeah, that's the— every time I watch now any football game and I see Highmark Stadium, I get so excited. Ah, Highmark! Highmark Stadium! Yeah, that is really neat in Rochester. Buffalo Bills.

The Buffalo Bills!

You're in the state of New York. We are. And West Virginia and Delaware.

And Delaware. That's right. That's right. And obviously Pennsylvania. So yeah, we— our footprint and we continue to look at growth opportunities that will extend beyond that footprint and continue to grow. So that is really our growth strategy.

So, Melissa.

Yes.

A lot of people, when they talk to me about cybersecurity, like they really don't know, OK, is that just working on the computer? What is it doing on the computer? What do you do? So from an overarching perspective, what is cybersecurity?

Yeah, so I would say in the simplest terms, right, we're protecting our digital footprint. So think about it in terms of systems, network, data, right? We're protecting from unauthorized access. You don't want people going into your own medical records, right? You don't want people—, you know, exploiting your data and putting it out there on the dark web. Um, we're also, we also protect against any attacks. So every day in the news, you'll hear something about a cyberattack, a breach, a data breach. That's the world we live in today. Uh, and I always say it's not a matter of what if, right? It's a matter of when that could happen to us, and then what do we do? So we are protecting that digital kind of footprint. I think about it like security guards. They're protecting a building, right? They're protecting the physical access of that. They're looking at points points of vulnerability and making sure that the wrong people don't get in and there's access, right? Access cards to get to the floor that you need. We're doing that same thing behind the scenes when we think about it from a digital perspective. So there's digital access points, right? A bad actor gets into your digital footprint, gets into your system, exfiltrates information. That's all things that we're trying to guard against. So I look at, I look at it that way. It's a little bit more abstract, because you can't always see those things from just looking at your computer. But behind the scenes, I have a whole team that's implemented controls around access, right? Who can get in the system? Why can they get in the system? How much— how many privileges or rights do they have when they get in the system? What controls and layers do we have in place so that people are approving what accesses are out there and not allowing people to have what I call superuser or superpowers, right? Because that can lead to vulnerabilities. So we do those. In addition to that, we have security policies, right? What are those things that can be done or can't be done? You know, I always say we have to protect those back doors, right? We can't let bad actors in. So what are those policies around that? And then how do we monitor it? So one of the more interesting— if you call that interesting when you talk about compliance— or one of our sexier things we do is kind of threat intelligence where we're literally out there combing our systems looking at vulnerabilities and preventing attackers from coming in. And Highmark is constantly under attack. But you've gotta have the right processes in place to monitor that and make sure that we're, you know, making sure that the bad actors aren't getting in. And so all of that comes into kind of threat intelligence and making sure that we're up to date on, you know, the, the most likely vulnerabilities, making sure patches are done on a regular basis, right, that are, that are out there that we know about, making sure that we understand what's the next ransom attack. And if that would come into our system, right? First of all, what does it look like? And then what would we do if it did? So we're constantly playing those types of things out as part of our, as part of our normal course of business. We also actually hire people, like, to come in and hack our systems to see where we have those vulnerabilities and where we can learn from them. So all of those things kind of go into, like, our cybersecurity space and how we're protecting our systems and our digital footprint. Ransomware. What is that? So oftentimes a bad actor will get into your systems unknowingly. They may be in there for a very long time. And I'll give you a good example of one that happened here in 2024 that the healthcare industry was impacted by with Change Healthcare. But a bad actor can, if they get into your systems, meaning somehow they got through that door, they can actually put a virus in place, and over time, that virus will start to essentially shut down your systems. That's called ransomware. It can come in a number of different forms. That's one. And oftentimes, the bad actor then sends you a ransom note and says, if you want to get your systems back, you're gonna have to pay X amount of dollars, and then we'll give you an encrypt— encryption code that will help you to restore your system. So it literally is just like a ransomnet would be in a kidnapping where your systems have been taken over by, by a bad actor. In 2024, February 2024, you probably heard about the Change Healthcare issue. And this one was pretty big for our industry. And it was exactly what you said. It was a ransomware attack. Change Healthcare is a part of the UnitedHealth Group. And that the cyberattack that happened then was one of the largest in the healthcare system. And just a bit of history on that. Change Healthcare was recently purchased by UnitedHealthcare. And so when that transaction happened, the bad actor probably had a good sense that there may be some vulnerabilities. And they went after Change Healthcare, um, and in fact got through, installed ransomware over time. Change didn't know that it was out there. And then in February, uh, basically took over the Change Healthcare system. Now, why do you think that's important? A couple of different things. Change Healthcare served as the clearinghouse between payers and providers. So it was the way money was transacted between hospitals and doctors and the insurance industry. So when you shut that pipeline off, we had no connectivity to each other, right? So doctors and pharmacists and hospitals couldn't get paid. Insurance companies had the money, couldn't transact the business. It impacted about 190 million people because of this one company. The reason is there are only 3 vendors that provide that service across the country. So the bad actor knew that there was probably a vulnerability, but also knew that it could bring down the United States healthcare system, uh, if they sent— if they— if this attack was successful, and it was, they were able to exfiltrate or steal sensitive personal identifiable information for more than half the United States population. So think about it in terms of all your PHI. It could get to your address, your Social Security number. It could get to your healthcare identification number, all of the things, addresses, insurance information, all of that. And so it became a pretty big issue immediately in the healthcare. But then really the trickle-down effects of it were even more, right? Because now you have all this information that's been exfiltrated from Change Healthcare and out there on the dark web. They sell that information. And so— and by the way, the systems are down. So when you talk about an attack like that, in order to get the systems back up— and these gangs that happen, like, they're literally cyber gangs. This one happened to be called Black Cat. They operate in the healthcare kind of industry as well as they had taken down MGM Casino at one point in time. So they're pretty well known as a gang that operates, with cyber attacks such as this. But their ransom note asked for $22 million in Bitcoin. United being in the situation that it was and trying to get Change Healthcare back up paid the $22 million. It still took them months and months to recover. And if you think about $22 million is a lot, it is estimated at this point, and I don't think it's— the lawsuits aren't even in yet. All of the lawsuits aren't even in yet with United with UnitedHealthcare, but they think that will be up to $3 billion— that's with a B— in terms of disruption, lawsuits, and everything else that they've had to do to recover from this data breach. So when I think about the job that my team does, it's critically important, right, that we put those controls in place and that we continue to protect that cyber event— cyber environment because one event such as this can be really catastrophic.

Why did they— catch those people?

That's the problem, Joyce. Very difficult to catch them. You operate in Bitcoin. Bitcoin's anonymous. They acknowledge the fact that they did it. They got the $22 million, and then what? They went off to their next target. So it is very difficult to catch them, um, because of the way they operate, right? They're, they're very swift in terms of attacking and getting out. Obviously Change Healthcare didn't catch them until the actual ransom note appeared. And at that point they had everything they needed. Now what? You already have everything. And now you're gonna pay to get, to get your systems back. So, you know, there's a lot of work that's being done to try to stop these, but the next one, you know, the next one just evolves. So it, it is every day. That we're looking at. Wow.

That, I mean, that story that you just told, oh my goodness. Scary. That's really scary because we—

and they get more sophisticated. So I think about a couple things, you know, as I think about what's coming up is AI, right? Artificial intelligence is another thing that I think can be very good in our industry and we're using it in a number of different ways, but it will be weaponized as well against us. When you think about what the bad actors will be able to do with artificial intelligence, right? And new emerging technologies. So you have to constantly be, or try to be, one step ahead. But again, you know, just the number of things that you have to think about. Oh yeah. This is the, like, this is the more interesting, sexy part of the compliance role is doing these types of things.

Well, yeah, because that AI will be able to look like A real person, a real company. Oh, that is a scary thing.

Joyce Bender, everything we actually— my team, and this is a true story, we actually have used AI and literally paid nothing for it because it's out there on the internet. And we took an X-ray and then created an AI X-ray to see if it would process through our claim system. And it was my team that did it. We were testing it. And besides, like, you couldn't tell the difference, right? You could not tell the difference between a real X-ray that came through. And we created a fictitious provider and put through an AI-generated X-ray of a wrist. And it passed through looking like it was a real image that came out of an X-ray machine. So that's what we're faced with now. We understand what those vulnerabilities are and we can test it and, you know, create controls around it. But that's what we're doing every day. But that's what's coming.

Oh, that is amazing. Yeah, I could see that. I can see this becoming, from the criminal perspective, a multi-billion dollar industry. Absolutely. They got— didn't you say they had to pay $22 million?

Wow. That's right. But here's the other thing. Now, you may say, okay, well, what do people do with this information? Because I always say healthcare information is data rich. It has data elements that you will find everything out about that person, right? Pretty quickly when you get a medical record. And so, well, how much do they go for? What do they do with them? So they sell them on the dark web. And the reason they do that is bad actors will go out and buy that information. They can create false claims with it and, and take that information, pretend like it's you, and create a provider, you know, kind of entity, and then start putting through fraudulent claims because they have your name, your address, your Social Security number, your member ID. They know everything about you. So they, they just reclone you and put through claims to insurance companies to see if they'll pay.

Yeah, I do always wonder.

Yeah, I mean, there's actually— we call them body brokers. These body brokers go out there creating fictitious members and just hitting insurance companies to see if they'll pay a claim. Some get caught, some don't. If you fall under the radar, right, sometimes they'll get away with it for some period of time before somebody catches on.

Well, thank goodness we have you, Melissa.

Well, Joyce Bender, it's evolving. It's not the end of the world. I always say, like, we are only as good as we are, but somebody is always going to be one step ahead. So we're always constantly making those tweaks and changes and making sure the team is up for the challenge.

Yeah, that is great. Well, it is on the half hour. That means it's time For the News with Mathis on the mic. And oh, we have another superstar. We have Holly O'Donnell. Holly O'Donnell, who just spoke in Pittsburgh at our VIP DMD event. And I am still hearing comments, all positive, about you, Holly. So Holly is the CEO of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. Jennifer works there as a lead attorney, and she normally is here. And I have to give credit to Holly. This Mathis on the Mic was her idea. So with that, Holly, what news do you have for us today?

Thanks so much, Joyce Bender. Thanks for having me. Happy to be here with you, Melissa. Um, I'm not envious of your job though. Hey, it keeps it interesting, that's for sure. Um, and Jennifer, sorry, she's not here. She's in New Jersey, um, on a panel. She's taking a quick trip up and back. Um, so for the news today, Joyce, as you and your listeners know, the government is shut down. It's been shut down for 21 days. Uh, the record is 35 days, and that was in, if you remember, 2018, 2019. During the first Trump administration over funding the wall at the US-Mexican border. But what I wanted to talk to you all about, and for your listeners to know, that on Friday the court extended a temporary restraining order to shield more federal workers from shutdown RIFs, reduction in force, So there was an emergency hearing on Friday. At issue was a dispute between the unions, which are the plaintiffs, and the government about which members of the workforce were covered by the temporary restraining order that the court had ordered. So there were a bunch of union— there were several unions and the Judge made it clear, clarified that it was for all of the unions and that they were explicitly shielded from the reductions in force during the shutdown. And so there's this sort of in the weeds, but The judge clarified what it means to be a member of the union because there are some agencies, including HHS, that has tried to eliminate the right to have a bargaining unit. So the judge clarified that if they are a member of the union, then they are shielded from these reduction in forces. At the various agencies. You know, I don't have a sense of when the shutdown is ending, but we know that the federal employees are not getting paid. We know that the work that they do is so important for our country and in particular people with disabilities. And so We are, you know, hopeful that these folks will get back to work soon when the government opens and that they will not be riffed during this time.

Oh my goodness, that would be terrible because, you know, Marca Bristow used to say, the great late Marca, the disability rights leader, she would say, Disability and poverty go hand in hand. So when you think about people that are not receiving any funds at all, oh my goodness, this is terrible. It's so terrible. What do you think, from your perspective, Holly? Is it possible for an emergency— I guess I don't know if the vote would have to come from Congress or what. FAA. Let's say because of the air traffic controllers that the government says, oh my God, we have to do something. Is that possible to single out one?

There are essential workers, so, you know, there— people are flying, right? Um, so it is whether or not you're an essential worker or not. They also are doing things where some essential, like one position will, like people will switch off. So somebody will work one week and somebody else will work the second week. That's happening. But, you know, I mean, whether or not they can extend sort of who's essential. I don't know who makes those rules. That would be for Jennifer. Someone else would know who's been in the agents. I, I worked in an agency but never during a shutdown, so I don't know.

Why I asked you that is it was on the news today how people that are air traffic controllers are quitting. A lot of people have left their job, um, and, you know, I wondered, oh my goodness, what would that do? But I'm sure we'll figure it out.

Yeah, I mean, they, they are, I, you know, because the flights are happening, uh, thank goodness.

Yeah.

Um, but I mean, the museums are closed. Uh, I know you do walk around. I saw some confused tourists the other day when I was on a run, and so I explained to them why their, the museum was closed.

I know. I think about everyone that planned a trip to one of the national parks or planned a trip to go to D.C. and paid for all of this up front.

And there you have it. Yeah, it's terrible. Well, thanks for letting me join and share the news.

Basilone, I am so honored to be on the board. Give us that website.

Www.bazelon.org, and you spell Bazelon B-A-Z-E-L-O-N.

So you can just go there and make a donation today. All right, Holly, thank you for being with us. Bye-bye. Bye.

Good luck with your work, Melissa.

Thank you.

You too, Melissa. We are the only place— this is my 22nd year on the air, and this— we are the only place you can go to to hear national news that impacts people with disabilities every week, every single week. Um, so, you know, we're very proud about that. That's fantastic. Yeah, but I can see why she said about your job and how hard your job is. And I guess the way cybersecurity is different is what you said— in healthcare, they can get everything. One fell swoop and they can know everything about you.

And that's why we're a target along with financial services. And I would say government too, because of the kind of data-rich environment that we have, right? And I also think, you know, coming to your point there, Joyce Bender, the other reason I think is that we have such legacy systems. And if you think about bringing these systems together, oftentimes it's through mergers and acquisitions, just like I described in the Change Healthcare situation. There's also vulnerabilities. And the bad actors study those things, right? And they know where the, you know, they'll try a lot of different places. You know, there's things called spray attacks, right? Where they just spray out there, you know, a number of attacks to see if anything sticks. But that is one of the reasons is that data-rich financial institutions are another one, right? Because they're motivated by money. And then on the government side as well, again, because they can get to a lot of data and hold things again for ransom.

Well, I know you're right when you were saying it happens all the time because that Check Point 2025 Cybersecurity Report showed an increase of 44% compared to the year before. And I'm going to guess that's just because they're seeing it work. For sure.

I think you're exactly right. Like, I look at it maybe in a couple different areas, right? Like, we often say that, like, why now, right? I think there's— it's profit-driven crime, right? The majority of cyberattacks are motivated by financial gain. And if they work, like we just talked about, you know, while they may put some concentrated work into some period of time, it's reaping big benefits. So, you know, I described this, you know, the Change Healthcare situation, $22 million. It's, you know, for how much work. Yeah. So again, they were in there for some period of time. But oftentimes the ransoms are often tens of millions of dollars depending on the size and the type of attack. But also I think about, there's state-sponsored attacks too. There are advanced hacking groups or cyber gangs that are being weaponized by nations that are actually state-backed, and they target critical infrastructure and intellectual property. And there's incentives that are, really rising in those types of attacks that make it a global threat. So I think we're going to see it, you know, we're going to see it continue. And the bigger the attack and the bigger the impact, the more you'll see from a financial perspective, right? I worry about it truly on the, on the provider side, like our hospital systems. Like, think about it. You need an insulin pump, right? And that's technology drives that. A heart monitor. If a bad actor gets in there and can manipulate that, Now you're talking about patient safety and lives. That's what worries me, right, is we can deal with data and money on the insurance side. But if you think about all of the critical things that happen in a hospital with technology and a cyberattack that brings down a hospital, wonder if you can't get to a medical record and you have somebody on the operating table and you don't know their blood type, right? Because these hard copy records aren't available. Readily. So those are the things that we really have to be careful about, is those medical devices that could ultimately be life-threatening if there's a cyber attack on that— a ventilator, right? All of those things. So, um, and that's why healthcare is a target, because chances are somebody's going to pay to get that back, right? Because you've got a whole hospital relying on that.

So yeah, with AI, I mean, that's right. I can see why it keeps you up at night. So in other words, you have a team that works on this nonstop, I guess, every day.

I have a team of about 250 people. We run 24/7 every day, right? Constantly looking at our threat landscape, monitoring our systems, looking at what those vulnerabilities and attacks could be, right, and making sure that we're not. We also look at all types of accesses, we're putting those provisions in place to be sure that we've got the right people with the right accesses and that type of stuff. So yes, I do have a team. And at any point in time where we have an issue like we did with Change Healthcare, we operate, you know, 24/7 until that issue is resolved. So we have a command center that gets stood up. We work across the whole enterprise to be sure that We understand what those impacts are and we minimize the impacts to our patients and members as much as possible. So yeah, it is, it is definitely a 24/7 type work.

Well, you know, I was very proud that for 10 years we had a big contract with the National Security Agency and this was for all STEM people, STEM-level skills. And one day This, uh, I went somewhere and heard this FBI agent was there and he said, when you travel, make sure you're aware, because I was going throughout Asia and Kazakhstan with the U.S. State Department as an expert on the employment of people with disabilities. They said, be very careful even what you say in the hotel room. I said, what are you talking about? Well, a lot of those countries, they bug, whatever you want to call it, or have cameras in these rooms, and you are a target. I said, what do you mean I'm a target? You work with the NSA. Yeah. So the idea is to try to get information from you, digital. That would help them get in through what I'm doing. Uh, so we had to be like all kinds of, you know, security level, like, you know, when we would interview people. But I mean, the, the NSA has a 9-month security clearance check and then a lifestyle polygraph test. But it got to the place where we could not even work with people that lived in other countries and then moved here. So I mean, it's just what you said, though. They think of everything. People think of— they do.

They think of everything. We always say any of our employees traveling, right, is to be sure that you're using a secure VPN, right? Not just your hotel, you know, internet, that type of thing. So we're very particular. My team does all the approvals of anybody leaving the country. Where are they going and whether or not they get approval to take their corporate asset. Right? Because it depends on what they do, where they're going to be, how they plan on, you know, getting access to their data, and what they want as to whether or not we'll even grant access to take their corporate asset or not. Because to your point, you just don't know.

Well, the reason the NSA did not want us to send anyone— and they did a credit check, and we did also, uh, on their credit is because if the NSA hires someone and let's say they had a big debt with their credit, then they're going to be targeted because someone's going to say, hey, if you tell me this, or if you tell me how to get in there, that's paid, I'll pay that off. It's, as I said, it's like 24 hours a day people are thinking about things.

That's right, you know, and they're always trying to be one step ahead of where we're thinking, right? Because they're a bad actor. Like, they've got to be able to outwit us, right? And we've got to be able to figure out what they're going to do next. So it is, it is an interesting time, that's for sure. And I just think when you think about emerging technologies and you think about artificial intelligence and all the things that are coming our way, it, it's a good thing in certain cases, right? I always look at and say it's a weapon too. So we're going to need to, you know, just continue to up our game. All the time because our policyholders, our members, and our patients all rely on us as Highmark to, to provide for the best secure environments for their data. And I don't blame them. That's what I would want, right, from any vendor that has my data or any company that has my data.

Well, speaking about that, hiring people with disabilities, you know, we had one employee that saved Highmark all this money from catching something. And there are companies that— well, the NSA is one— found that when they were hiring neurodiverse people, that the way they thought, they were seeing things that, you know, other people were not seeing. So that brings me to you, Melissa, and hi, Mark. You are a wonderful person, and I want everyone to know This, thank you, Melissa Anderson hires people with disabilities. That is where the rubber meets the road. That's what changes a life, employment. Um, and you know, let's start with you. Why, why do you hire people? Why is that not an issue to you to hire people with disabilities?

Yeah, Joyce, I think, um, over the years we've learned that having a diverse workforce really Helps everybody, right, understand limitations, disabilities, and all those things. So I think it actually is a great way to bring people together. And we've been working with Bender Consulting Services for a long time, and you've been a great partner. But I do think it's rewarding for those that are working with people with disabilities, but especially you see how appreciative your team is for getting that opportunity. Right? I mean, I, I can give you one example of another on how appreciative they are. I mean, they're great employees. They show up to work, they want to work. Um, and you know, for, for me, that's half the battle, right? I can teach you insurance, or I can teach you some of the things that happen, but having that kind of work ethic and just— I think they're appreciative of getting a chance. And I— and that has helped tremendously bring a diverse diverse team to the table?

I always say it's a great business investment. You're hiring people that think diverse, as you said, but I mean to think differently than others. That's how it is though with all diversity. But in addition, appreciation, gratitude, and causing employment engagement with other people, but retention. And you know, When people leave, it costs money. It costs the company money. So I—

but I also think it makes people step back to say, if this person can get here with a number of just issues, right, then showing up to work is not that big of a deal. That's the way I look at it sometimes, is it gives people perspective real quick.

Yeah, I remember when a person in HR told me on a snowy day, in Pittsburgh, which of course everyone knows that's where I am. But on a snowy day in Pittsburgh, that person was going to work thinking, "Oh, ah, in the snow and I'm tired," and saw these little lines in the snow, little, couldn't figure out what it was. And what it was was a wheelchair. And when She got into her office, he was the only one there because it had been a major snow day. And I always say, with my employees all being here, good luck saying I can't get there. So I, I agree with you.

It gives you perspective quickly.

So Melissa, tell me, who is your role model?

So Joyce, I mean, I've had a number of role models through my career, partners opening the door at KPMG for me or even at Highmark, people believing in me and allowing me to take on new challenges to build my skill set. I'm not a cybersecurity expert. I'm a CPA, right? But they gave me opportunities to do that. But why? I reflect on this all the time. But what's my why? Why am I here? Right? Or why am I a healthcare executive? And I think what motivates me the most is how can I make a difference to simplify healthcare and break down barriers in an industry that's so complex? And I say that because of the experience that I've had with my own mom. My mom has a number of complex health issues. I mean, it's, it's all-consuming physical, you know, a number of issues there. And I've, you know, I've looked at it to say, that's, that's my why. That's what motivates me. How do I help people navigate a complex system? You know how it is, right, with disabilities. How do you get to the right provider? How do you link the right people together to make a care team that's going to understand that if I've got a hematology issue, and I've got a cardiology issue, and I also have rheumatoid arthritis, like, who puts all this stuff together? So I think my role— I don't know if it's so much a role model, but the why of what keeps me going is to how do I make this easier to help people solve these issues? And I'm not a patient person. I'm not. But if I could move it faster every day, I would. But every day I try to say, like, how do we in this healthcare industry make it better and easier for people every day? I think my mom has the benefit of having me help navigate that, but not everybody has somebody that helps them shepherd their way through a complex industry. And so You know, I look at it and say, that's what I can help to do.

Yeah, and you are so right, because an example, if you're deaf, try going to a doctor, right? A friend of mine, her grandmother had cancer. She was deaf. They could not find an interpreter. Um, I mean, it's so hard. It's frustrating. As you said, if your mother did not have you, I mean, that is a horrible thing to try to figure. It's hard. It's really hard. Yeah. Uh, well, I guess that's your role model. Your mother. Yeah.

It's frustrating. I look at what she has had to endure and think like, we've got to make this better, right? We've got to be able to help everybody that has chronic conditions, and I say multiple chronic conditions compounded on it to make a person like that have some quality of life and how can we help?

Well, before we ask you our final question, I want to thank you, Melissa Anderson. Oh, of course. Not only for being here, but more importantly, for opening the door. I can tell you, you have changed lives because I had a person's partner called me crying, thanking me because he got a job. You are the one that did that. See, without that, it won't happen. This is what I mean about— hi, Mark, you know, from David Holmberg, Karen Hanlon, Larry, all of you. You are setting a model for the rest of the country. So for everyone with disabilities listening, Here you go. Here's another example of a leader that isn't just talking about it. That won't help me. I always tell people, don't come and tell me, oh, you're so wonderful, Joyce. I'm so impressed by what you do. Hire someone.

Yeah, that's what I think. It's you too. Like, you're persistent. You're a great leader too. You represent the cause. You're, you know, you're out there every day. Fighting the fight, and, um, we appreciate you.

Oh, thank you, and I appreciate you. So, Melissa, yes, before you go, what is your proudest accomplishment?

Had a number and number of accomplishments in my career. Like I said, it was more of an S-curve, but I'd have to say the proudest accomplishment is probably raising my daughter who turned 24 today. Oh, happy birthday! Yep. And my 19-year-old son who's a sophomore at Penn State, and just like witnessing them becoming independent adults and succeeding succeeding in their studies and moving through life, as much as a mom, like, that breaks your heart and you want to hang on, but you have to reflect back and say, okay, got them to that point, right? Made those investments in their foundation to be where they are. So I would say if I have to look at it, that outweighs my career accomplishments by tenfold. What's your daughter's first name?

Uh, Alex. Alex, is that what you said? Happy birthday, Alex.

Happy birthday. Maybe she's tuning in. I told her I was going to be on today. Yeah, happy birthday.

So if she missed it now, gotta go watch it. And I just want to tell you, remember everyone, if you were listening, you thought, oh, I'd love to share this. This is so interesting. It's such a good person Melissa is. You can, you can share it. It's easy. You can go to voiceamerica.com, benderconsult.com, YouTube. Easy. Go to Spotify. All of these places you can grab the show and send it to someone else. Remember, it's on demand, so you can go hear it again either on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon, Apple, almost every social media platform. And I hope you do. And I want to thank all of you, all of you for being so awesome listening to this show. I hope you all have a safe, happy Halloween. Melissa, thank you. And with that, we end every show with a quote. And the quote today is from a mentor of mine, Tony Coelho. And he said, when you get a chance to take the podium, speak up. And I do. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at voiceamerica.com. Hey, talk to you all next week. And in the words of Mary Brocker, when you get up tomorrow and you go out to start your day, remember, choose joy. It will make all the difference.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific Time and 2 PM Eastern Time for another installment of Disability Matters, right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are the leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.