NationsBenefits®, the leading healthcare fintech and benefits platform, today announced that Irina Pelphrey has joined the company as Senior Vice President of Food is Medicine and Health Solutions. A respected voice in the retail-health space, Pelphrey will lead the expansion of the company’s Food is Medicine initiatives and strengthen ties between health plans and national retailers.

In her new role, Pelphrey will oversee the design and expansion of the company’s Food is Medicine programming, focusing on connecting retail grocery interventions to measurable clinical data and outcomes. She will also work to develop outcome measurement capabilities for interventions targeting HbA1c reduction, blood pressure control, and HEDIS measure improvement, while bridging the gap between nutrition programs and broader healthcare strategies for the growing GLP-1 member population.

“Irina is a leader who understands that for many Americans, the grocery store is the most frequent and important point of care,” said Glenn Parker, M.D., Founder and Co-CEO at NationsBenefits. “Irina’s experience building enterprise-scale digital health platforms within retail environments is essential as we scale our Food is Medicine infrastructure. Beyond simply providing food access, we are developing the clinical and technical framework necessary to prove that tailored nutrition improves patient outcomes and reduces the total cost of care.”

Pelphrey comes to NationsBenefits from Albertsons Companies, where she served as Group Vice President of Health. During her time there, she was the driving force behind Sincerely Health, a wellness platform that reached millions of customers across banners like Safeway, Vons, and ACME. Her work there was defined by a focus on the customer, using data-driven insights and gamification to help shoppers make healthier choices every time they visited an app or a store. Earlier in her career, Pelphrey held leadership roles at Walmart, where she shaped pharmacy and health strategy and built expertise in PBM and payer partnerships - work that anchors her view of how retail, pharmacy services and clinical care can come together to drive better outcomes.

“I’ve spent my career working to make wellness accessible to everyone, right where they live and shop,” said Irina Pelphrey. “Joining NationsBenefits is an opportunity to take that work even further. By using fintech to bridge the gap between a physician recommendation and the checkout aisle, we can make 'Food is Medicine' a reality for millions. I’m eager to get to work building the programs that will help our members manage chronic conditions and stay healthy through better nutrition.”

Beyond program development, Pelphrey will represent NationsBenefits at industry forums and CMS working groups to advocate for the future of nutritional policy. She will also collaborate with retail partners to launch condition-specific solutions, including medically tailored grocery bundles and nutrition programs that, unlike standard retail wellness offerings, are covered in part by members’ healthcare benefits, turning everyday food purchases into clinically supported, reimbursable elements of care.

The appointment of Pelphrey underscores NationsBenefits’ commitment to the convergence of commerce and care. By integrating its proprietary fintech infrastructure with a national retail network, the company is transforming the traditional benefits experience into a unified healthcare ecosystem.

About NationsBenefits®

NationsBenefits is the leading healthcare fintech, benefit, and outcomes company at the forefront of the convergence of commerce and care. By unifying supplemental benefits, financial technology, and clinical outcome solutions into a single, seamless ecosystem, NationsBenefits transforms how health plans and members engage with the healthcare journey. The company partners with Medicare, Medicaid, and Commercial health plans to provide innovative rewards and incentives, data analytics, and care-gap closure solutions to drive growth and improve population health. Through its proprietary fintech infrastructure and integrated platform, NationsBenefits transforms traditional benefit administration into a precision tool for outcome improvement and care program adherence. By leveraging opt-in health data to drive smarter choices and expand access to essential health solutions, NationsBenefits empowers members, optimizes their experience at every touchpoint, and is dedicated to improving quality of life by making healthy outcomes more accessible. To learn more, visit NationsBenefits.com.

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“Irina’s experience building enterprise-scale digital health platforms within retail environments is essential as we scale our Food is Medicine infrastructure."