While employers’ involvement in health care isn’t new, employers increasingly are playing a more active role in leading health care innovation.
Employers provide health insurance coverage and benefits to more than fifty percent of Americans. For years, employers have faced unsustainable year-over-year cost growth in providing health coverage for workers and their families. Further, as the primary resource of health benefits for many Americans, employers must grapple with consumers’ escalating dissatisfaction with their health care experiences. Across the board, health care is more confusing, costly, and complex than ever before.
But because of employers’ unique position in the health care ecosystem, they have the power to facilitate change and drive solutions that provide the affordable, accessible, and equitable experiences consumers demand.
At 2024 Connect, Glen Tullman, CEO, Transcarent, spoke with Mark Griffin, EVP, Chief Human Resources Officer, BJ’s Wholesale Club; Ellen Kelsay, President and CEO, Business Group on Health; and David Stark, MD, Chief Medical Officer and Global Head of Benefits, Morgan Stanley, about how employers increasingly are leading the charge to meet consumers’ evolving expectations by crafting high-value, high-quality care experiences.
Employers are taking a more hands-on approach
When designing a benefits package, employers strive to provide programs and solutions that will support and improve employees’ health and well-being. Historically, many employers opted to take a “one-size-fits-all” approach, often relying on health insurers to shape their offerings. However, over the past decade, employers increasingly have shifted to more tailored solutions aimed at better serving employees, improving access, and reducing costs.
Further, amid rising health care costs, employers are paying more attention to expense management. Most Americans evaluate health care from an affordability lens—and employers play a key role in driving affordability.
Traditionally, employers have focused on managing pharmacy costs and high-cost conditions as levers to constrain growth in health care spending and employees’ premiums. But innovative employers also are seeking to create portfolios of products and services that will best serve employees and their families—which can expand employers’ return on investment far beyond their direct health care spending and increase the value workers receive.
Employers increasingly are focusing on ensuring the benefits they offer are effective and useful for employees. To do so, the discussion leaders advised that executives and benefits teams create feedback loops for employees to provide insight into what is and is not working well and to ensure that employees are connected to the benefits that best align with their needs.
That’s especially important because many Americans have difficulty navigating the health care system, so they rely on their employers to help guide their health care decisions, the discussion leaders said. As such, providing and facilitating streamlined, high-quality coverage and care experiences can set employers apart when it comes to recruiting and retaining staff.
According to the discussion leaders, top employers view investments in health and well-being as integral to their overall workforce strategy. When employers fail to prioritize this, they risk losing talent, the discussion leaders warned.
In addition to bolstering workforce recruitment and retention, investments in workers’ health and well-being also can boost employee productivity and engagement, the discussion leaders said.
Overall, the discussion leaders noted that executives now see these investments as a key factor in driving their business results. And for many employers, they see their unique position in the health care ecosystem as an opportunity to drive industry transformation. Ultimately, employers believe they are best positioned to advance affordability and innovation at an aggressive pace.
Disrupting partnerships: How employers are advancing transformation
Employers’ influence extends beyond the traditional insurance market, as they also partner with vendors to provide point solutions and programs to address an array of health-related needs. As employers continue grappling with rising costs and worsening health outcomes, they are seeking to disrupt traditional health care partnerships and programs that are not meeting consumers’ expectations.
The discussion leaders stressed that employers want a comprehensive understanding of all the options available to them. So, rather than relying exclusively on incumbent partnerships, employers are exploring new alternatives. Ideally, they want partners that can integrate and aggregate the full range of benefits employers want to offer to their workforce.
Employers are seeking vendors or other entities that can help them execute their mission to make health care more affordable, accessible, and equitable for the employees they serve. As such, innovation is a key factor employers consider when evaluating a potential partnership. According to the discussion leaders, vendors that create platforms that make it easy for people to access high-quality, affordable health care and wellness benefits likely will secure more successful, longstanding partnerships.
However, vendors and other entities need to offer more than a great idea or platform to be a contender, the discussion leaders noted. They also must be effective. Vendors need to provide data-driven analyses that indicate their solutions are going to work and align with employers’ overall goals.
With these strategies and goals in mind, employers are poised to facilitate innovation and drive increased accountability in health care—leading to a more accessible and valuable health system that’s truly centered around consumers, the discussion leaders concluded.
