How Montana negotiated lower healthcare costs

Rising healthcare costs aren’t good for workers or employers, which wind up shouldering higher costs even though employers could negotiate better prices with insurance companies, NPR and ProPublica reported.

Managing benefits for employees is tough business for employers, which is why many just cede their control to health insurers. However, harder negotiating tactics from more knowledgeable administrators can lead to big payoffs.

Employers may not even realize they are wittingly deferring to the healthcare industry to set costs without having much input. The relationship between employers’ health plans and the greater healthcare industry was put to the test when a Montana plan attempted to lower prices for employees—and call the industry’s bluff.

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Amy Baxter

Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."

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