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.

See the full story below:

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."

Around the web

The American College of Cardiology has shared its perspective on new CMS payment policies, highlighting revenue concerns while providing key details for cardiologists and other cardiology professionals. 

As debate simmers over how best to regulate AI, experts continue to offer guidance on where to start, how to proceed and what to emphasize. A new resource models its recommendations on what its authors call the “SETO Loop.”

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, MD, said the clinical community needs to combat health misinformation at a grassroots level. He warned that patients are immersed in a "sea of misinformation without a compass."

Trimed Popup
Trimed Popup