Why health care costs are rising and what you can do about it

Why health care costs are rising and what you can do about it

As a business owner or insurance broker, you’re likely aware that health care costs in the U.S. have been steadily increasing over the last several years.?

Today, I want to briefly explain some of the most significant factors leading to higher healthcare prices, as well as how you can work with your team to lower these costs for your organization and employees.?

Several factors that contribute to the rising cost of healthcare:

  • Aging population: As the population ages, they require more medical services, which increases demand and drives up prices.
  • Advances in medical technology: New and innovative medical technologies are constantly being developed, but they can also be expensive to implement.
  • Increased use of prescription drugs: The increased use of prescription drugs, including specialty drugs, can be a major driver of healthcare costs.
  • Provider consolidation: The consolidation of hospitals and medical practices into larger organizations can lead to increased bargaining power and higher prices.

To lower healthcare costs for organizations and employees, consider the following strategies:

  • Encourage preventive care: Preventive care can help avoid more expensive treatments down the road, so encouraging employees to use these services can save money in the long run.
  • Promote healthy behaviors: Encouraging employees to lead healthy lifestyles can also help reduce healthcare costs by preventing chronic conditions.
  • Consider innovative plan solutions: By leveraging your organization's size, you may be able to find lower prices with better benefits for healthcare services.
  • Utilize telemedicine services: Telemedicine can provide access to care at a lower cost, and can also reduce the need for expensive in-person visits.

It is important to work closely with insurance agents that know how to find the best solution for reducing healthcare costs while maintaining access to quality care.

Start looking for creative solutions today! If you need to find an innovative plan solution for your health benefits, reach out to us and we will help.


Michael Patton

President of Excel Health Plans

Cristin Dickerson MD, Certified Health Value Advisor

Speaker, Author, Founder Green Imaging-Cost transparency assures you tremendous savings on outpatient medical testing nationally

1 年

In my field, private equity and greed.

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Kim Stephens, MSN, RN, CNOR

Improving the innovation, productivity, equality, & social well-being of employers and employees while mitigating healthcare risk with advanced primary care. UofM & MSU mom—house divided!

1 年

Build direct primary care (DPC) as the foundation of the healthcare package and build all other services around it. DPC lowers the unit consumption of healthcare reducing costs by 20% (or more) while giving 24/7 access to a primary care provider whether the office is open, closed, weekends, or holidays. In addition, we promote price tranparency helping patients navigate the healthcare system to the highest value at the lowest cost. The healthcare system is an antiquated model that does not work to save money for the people. It is a system that uses traditional primary care and urgent care as the feeders into the higher cost parts of the system. We can do better then that. DPC is the real solution to lower spend while getting great care and open access. Putting free markets forces into the system is where everyone will win—cities, municipalities, unions, employers, and the people.

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Michael G. Smith, MHA, Health Rosetta Advisor

Intentional about healthcare benefits <> Hebrews 12:1-2 <> Ironman

1 年

2) Choose a plan that fits the needs of your company and that of your employees. Depending on your size, you may want to consider a self-funded arrangement where you own your data, have greater control of your plan design and gain the flexibility to do creative things with direct provider contracts or prescription carve outs. This is a high-performance vehicle that must be managed differently than a fully-insured model with a big carrier but can be a great way to better utilize health plan dollars while giving employees better benefits with much lower out-of-pocket expenses.

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Michael G. Smith, MHA, Health Rosetta Advisor

Intentional about healthcare benefits <> Hebrews 12:1-2 <> Ironman

1 年

1) Choose an innovative & knowledgeable benefits advisor/consultant who works for you (the business), not a "broker". Most brokers are compensated by large insurance carriers and can be swayed to keep/move a plan based on the hefty commission being thrown at them. This is often times a conflict of interest and may not be what's best for the employer's, or their employees. When companies receive a healthy insurance renewal increase, guess who also receives a nice bonus by that same %? The broker! An independent consultant who works directly for you (the business) is carrier agnostic and is paid accordingly by you so there's full transparency. No commissions, bonuses, extra perks, etc. based on the carrier you use.

Michael G. Smith, MHA, Health Rosetta Advisor

Intentional about healthcare benefits <> Hebrews 12:1-2 <> Ironman

1 年

Michael, I like the four bullet point strategies you offer. Here are a few additional thoughts worth mentioning. Businesses have myriad of solutions at their fingertips but if their current broker isn't aware of them or adept at implementing these strategies, the unit cost of care will still be high. There are two very important decisions each employer who sponsors a health plan for their team needs to make:

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