Employers Deploy New Strategies to Address Rising Healthcare Costs

More company leaders are looking for ways to address the underlying causes of rising healthcare costs, according to a recent article from the Wall Street Journal that mentions Premise Health.

In the past, many organizations chose to address these costs by sharing them with workers, leading to a rise in high-deductible plans. However, today employers are considering a wide variety of strategies, such as:

  1. Offering their own wellness centers, to provide direct healthcare to their employees
  2. Bypassing insurers, and instead negotiating direct deals with healthcare providers
  3. Shaking up their approach for paying for drug coverage

According to Premise CEO Stuart Clark, employers are aiming to “avoid that unit-cost treadmill everyone is on,” where patients are frequently referred to more expensive providers and services.

While cost remains a driver, it is clear the companies investing in these strategies also are focused on quality and experience. They are considering the overall healthcare value their employees receive and working to realign financial incentives to support more effective healthcare delivery.

*behind paywall