Employers

Family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose 4% over the past year, averaging $21,342, according to Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) study findings, with workers contributing $5588 in out-of-pocket costs.

As employers seek to gain a pulse of what the health care benefit cost trend will be for the coming year, the Business Group on Health will be monitoring several factors, including the impact of the pandemic, efficacy of virtual care, and deferral in care delivery.

In working directly with employers on their purchasing strategies amid the COVID-19 pandemic, notable concerns include independent primary care, consolidation, and quality of care.

Amid disruption precipitated by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a survey by the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions shows employers are maintaining or accelerating their health benefit strategies for 2021 and 2022.

This article was written by Maureen Hennessey, PhD, CPCC, CPHQ, senior vice president and director of Value Transformation for PRECISIONvalue.

Based on findings of the Business Group on Health’s 2021 Large Employers' Health Care Strategy and Plan Design Survey, employers have increased funding in virtual care and behavioral health amid the coronavirus disease pandemic.

Jason Shafrin, PhD, serves as the vice president of Health Economics at PRECISIONheor, and Meena Venkatachalam, MSc, is the senior director of Health Economics at PRECISIONheor.

A cost-saving provision made possible by the recent COVID-19 relief CARES Act now allows Americans to leverage pre-tax funds from their flexible spending arrangements [FSAs] or health savings accounts [HSAs] to purchase over-the-counter medicines and menstrual care products.

Karen Kobelski is the vice president and general manager of clinical surveillance, compliance & data solutions at Wolters Kluwer. She brings more than 25 years of experience to her position, which expands her previous leadership role over the Safety & Surveillance group to also include the Health Language portfolio of data normalization solutions.

Expanding traditional value frameworks to include inequality and factors that contribute to this is the first step to addressing disparities in health outcomes. Utilizing multi-criteria decision analysis and distributional cost effect analysis can assist in deriving data and subsequently acting on these issues.

As chief quality officer for Allegheny Health Network, Brian M. Parker, MD, is responsible for ensuring that the highest standards of patient care quality, safety, and service excellence are achieved.

When 40th Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH) Annual Conference meets this week, stakeholder groups will tackle issues within population health and precision medicine, and discuss the influence of employers on these discussions.

In a webinar by the Integrated Benefits Institute, an employer panel discussed perspectives, initiatives, and challenges in their respective caregiving benefits, as well as how the current pandemic has impacted their strategies.

Of the top 10% considered high cost from an overall cohort of 21 million, a recent study by Milliman found that 57% of this high-cost group had a mental health or substance abuse diagnosis. This behavioral subgroup was shown to contribute to 44% of all health care spending, said Henry Harbin, MD, leading behavioral health expert and adviser to The Bowman Family Foundation.

Through a new cost-saving provision made possible by the recent COVID-19 relief CARES Act, consumers can now utilize flexible spending arrangements and health savings accounts to purchase cost-effective over-the-counter medications.

Going into the COVID-19 pandemic, previous studies by Milliman found a worsening over the past 5 years of access to inpatient intermediate levels of care and office-based care, said Henry Harbin, MD, leading behavioral health expert and adviser to The Bowman Family Foundation.

In 2 surveys, employers identified efforts to increase availability of virtual care, support employees undertaking greater caregiving roles, and address social and health inequities as a result of the pandemic.

Through the partnership between Innovaccer and Emtiro Health, data utilization will work to delineate and address social aspects known to affect the health of populations nationwide, said Kelly Garrison, CEO at Emtiro Health, and Paul Grundy, MD, chief transformation officer at Innovaccer.

Given the constraints prevalent post-COVID-19, Dr Mark Fendrick, director of the University of Michigan Center for Value-Based Insurance Design, stresses that it is now more important than ever for the health care industry to prioritize payment reform, value-based benefit design, and novel policy initiatives.