Mid-size employers will become healthcare's unlikely heroes

Facing rising costs, these businesses will drive the adoption of local solutions that deliver better care at lower costs.

Conventional wisdom has long pointed to corporate giants or big tech disruptors as the ones most likely to fix healthcare. Major retailers like Walmart and Walgreens tried to make a difference with retail clinics yet faced significant roadblocks—Walmart recently shuttered all 51 of its health centers. Even Amazon, with its focus on virtual care and prescription delivery, has struggled to gain traction. Surprisingly, meaningful change is emerging from an unlikely source: mid-sized and family-owned businesses that can no longer afford to sustain the status quo.?

The challenge

The traditional strategies for managing healthcare costs are falling short. For decades, employers have relied on the same playbook: absorb annual increases, shift costs to employees through higher premiums and deductibles, or cut benefits. Large corporations can often weather these increases, while smaller businesses tend to scale back benefits. Mid-sized employers, however, find themselves caught in the middle—too large to ignore the problem but too small to absorb the cost hikes. As a result, they are being driven to find a new path forward.?

Early signs of change

This shift is already emerging in places like Michigan, where mid-sized businesses are partnering with new healthcare networks that contract directly with providers. These aren't massive corporations with unlimited resources. They're often second and third-generation family businesses - the backbone of their communities - who have found they can save significantly while offering richer benefits through direct-to-provider networks.?

Proof in numbers

"I've built tech forever, but I came to realize that tech alone won't solve healthcare. You need a different business model enabled by technology," says Amy Wykoff, Nomi Health Chief Product Officer. "That's what we're seeing in West Michigan, where mid-sized employers control $2.8 billion in annual healthcare spend."?

These businesses are achieving what Fortune 500 companies couldn't—20-40% savings while maintaining or even improving care quality. Perhaps most telling, stop-loss insurers—often the toughest critics of new models—are validating these approaches with significant premium discounts.?

Human impact

This isn't just about cost savings. These are businesses where CEOs know their employees by name. When healthcare decisions affect people you see every day, the need for change becomes personal. Mid-sized employers are proving that you can both reduce costs and improve benefits—by offering programs like zero-deductible plans that larger companies often dismiss as impossible.?

2025 prediction

In 2025, mid-sized employers will be one of healthcare's most effective drivers of innovation. While headlines focus on big tech and corporate giants, these pragmatic businesses will demonstrate that local, collaborative approaches can create meaningful, lasting change. Their success will prove that local action can drive national change.

Read the full analysis: https://www.nomihealth.com/blog/healthcare-predictions-2025-the-power-of-pragmatic-change