Employers

The prices of targeted oncology therapies have grown substantially, but revenues have not. This is due in part to large declines in per-drug patient counts.

The government taking a backseat has opened the market up to disrupters from outside the healthcare industry.

If employers want to be able to have an impact on the healthcare system and help create lower cost, more effective markets, they need to get informed, get tough, and get smart, said David Blumenthal, MD, president and chief executive officer, The Commonwealth Fund, during the 2019 Annual Conference of the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health.

This week, the American Psychiatric Association released results of a public opinion survey on several key mental health issues, including how well employees can access mental health care at work.

At the Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH)’s 39th annual conference, Cheryl Larson, president and chief executive officer of MBGH, and Denise Giambalvo, vice president of MBGH, discussed a range of topics affecting employers, including trust with employees, popular initiatives, the cost of specialty drugs, and various proposals and policies from the Trump administration, such as getting rid of drug rebates and including drug prices in TV ads.

The poll by the American Psychiatric Association found that young men were especially reluctant to seek mental health care from their employers, even though most workers, especially young ones, said they felt willing to discuss mental health in the workplace.

Deductible Relief Day, the day when enrollees will, on average, have spent enough on healthcare to hit the average deductible in an employer plan, will be May 19 this year, far later in the year than a decade ago when it was March 18.

As pharmaceutical manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers point fingers over who is responsible for high drug prices, employers have the opportunity to demand change to business as usual, consultant Chris Robbins of Arxcel says.

Mental health disorders are rising in prevalence around the world and will cost the global economy $16 trillion by 2030. Here are 5 things about mental health during Mental Health Month this May.

Programs that address chronic conditions have the potential to improve employee satisfaction, reduce costs, and improve employee health, said speakers at the Midwest Business Group on Health’s 39th Annual Conference, held May 8-9 in Chicago, Illinois.