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Three major U.S. corporations—Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase & Co.—banded together with technology resources, more than one million employees, and some of the greatest minds in healthcare at the helm (surgeon and author Atul Gawande was named CEO). But the organization was disbanded in 2021 having made no major headway in its goals of reducing hospital and pharmacy costs and expanding access to primary care. On paper, Haven’s market power and technology should have been able to accomplish thi

Some of south Louisiana's largest private companies, which together provide health-insurance coverage to some 38,000 employees and family members, are forming a new coalition aimed at controlling the cost of health care without reducing its quality. The Employer Coalition of Louisiana, as the group is called, plans to officially launch next year. Six employer members have signed on so far, including: Laitram, Edison Chouest Offshore, Excel Group--a large industrial contractor, Grand Isle Shipyard, Team Aut

When it comes to negotiating for lower healthcare costs, no single employer has the leverage to significantly reduce the prices health systems charge for their services. If an employer wants to cut out a provider because of cost or quality, the system is unlikely to compromise by bringing down the price, as the patients that would come from that employer are most likely just a drop in the bucket of the system’s revenue. On the other hand, the employer is left to deal with the consequences of making its empl

Several nonprofit groups representing Texas healthcare employers have formed a coalition — Texas Employers for Affordable Healthcare — in hopes they can help slow rising healthcare costs, The Dallas Morning News reported Nov. 8. The coalition's founding stakeholders include Dallas-Fort Worth Business Group on Health, Houston Business Coalition on Health, San Antonio Business Group on Health, Texas Business Group on Health and Texas 2036, a public policy think tank. They aim to ban language in contracts bet

Dallas-Fort Worth’s market-share leader, threatening to end Blue Cross contract Oct. 4, is also the state’s pricing leader. How much of a pay raise does Texas Health Resources need? The region’s largest health system, controlling nearly a quarter of the hospital market, already has the highest health care charges in North Texas — roughly a third higher than the average for the state and nation.

Employer group in Houston plans to use the numbers to pressure lawmakers for policy changes involving how hospitals and health plans price their services Clinical laboratory leaders will probably not be surprised to learn that wide disparities exist between what Medicare pays hospitals and what is paid by private insurers and employers. That’s according to analysis by the Houston Business Coalition on Health (HBCH) which examined costs and billing practices at four of the region’s top hospitals, each a fla

Employers offering health insurance coverage are closely analyzing hospital price data to get better prices for their employees, leading to tension with hospitals. Hospital spending made up the largest share of national health expenditures at $1.3 trillion in 2020, and employers paid much of the nearly $409 billion of that spent by private insurers, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Health insurance companies and self-insured employers that directly pay for their workers’ medical care will have to post data on what they pay hospitals, doctors, and other providers starting Friday. It’s part of the latest effort from the federal government to create more health care price transparency.

Hospitals in Texas on average are charging employer-sponsored insurers more than triple the amount that Medicare would pay, raising health care costs for companies and their workers, according to a new analysis.

The hospital price transparency law requires hospitals to list the cash prices for procedures on their websites, requiring them to be easily accessible and allow patients to compare cash prices with insurance. In a study released this week, JAMA analyzed 5,000 hospitals nationwide and found that just fewer than 6% were fully compliant with the rule. Healthcare Economist with The Rand Corporation Christopher Whaley researched how much employer cost has increased over the years and says knowing the true cos

Employers continue to pay hospitals more than double the amount Medicare would pay for the same services, a new study shows. Where healthcare challenges find solutions TRANSFORMATION HUB |7 HOURS AGO CHRIS LOGOUT SUBSCRIBE  MENU  Private employer-sponsored health plans paid hospitals 224% of Medicare prices, on average, according to an updated RAND Corp. analysis of claims from 4,000 hospitals across every state except Maryland. Hospitals with higher market shares tended to have higher prices, according t

Gloria Sachdev landed at the helm of the Employers’ Forum of Indiana in 2015, feeling like the proverbial woman from outer space. A pharmacist for most of her career, she knew relatively little about the world of employer-sponsored health insurance—the medical coverage companies provide through their employee benefit programs. But she knew for sure that the topic was the driving force behind the EFI, a coalition of Indiana-based employers who had banded together to try to solve the problem of their fast-ris

As health care costs in the United States continue to rise, employers are looking to manage those costs. Insurance companies, policy experts and doctors agree that "value-based care" is part of the solution, but the industry is moving toward this model at a sluggish pace.

The Leapfrog Group, a national nonprofit representing hundreds of the nation’s most influential employers and purchasers of health care, and driven in the Houston metro area by the Houston Business Coalition on Health (HBCH), announced today fall 2021 Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grades.

Business leaders share their experiences trying to move the needle on health care reform and cost control

On the verge of returning to workplaces and resuming normal life, Houston employers say the lessons they've learned about public health and meeting their employees' needs are reshaping the future of work.

Even as public health officials urge people to stay at home during the holidays, Houston companies are hesitant to issue strict policies on personal travel during the pandemic.

New COVID-19 tests that can produce results in as little as 15 minutes are expected to become available in the United States as soon as this month, a development that would help could help companies bring workers back to the office and schools bring students into the classroom safely, doctors said.

Houston-area companies that purchase health insurance for their employees are paying more than twice the rate of Medicare, the federal plan for people 65 and older, for the same medical treatments, according to a study released Friday.

Employees prefer health insurance plans thatgive them greater choice of doctors and specialists even if employees must pay more, according to a study released Tuesday by the Houston Business Coalition on Health.