HBCH Conference Highlights Employer Sucesses

In This Issue

September 12, 2023

Conference Video & Slides
Employee Health Equity

Better Solutions for Healthcare
Creating Value for Employees

HBCH Conference Video Recording and PowerPoints

Many thanks to all of those who attended the annual HBCH conference on August 24 at the Rice University BRC. The focus of the conference was on the growing trend of employers contracting with providers while still maintaining their existing PPO plan. Some of the topics employer and vendor panels presented included successful implementations of bundled pricing for planned procedures, direct contracting with providers, alternatives to the big PBMs and focused solutions for maternal care and chronic illness. Significant cost savings and enhanced patient experience was the common theme.

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Future newsletters will feature individual conference sessions!

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Health Equity: A New & Necessary Frontier in Employee Benefits

Rice BRC

6500 Main St

Houston, TX 77030
11:30 AM to 3:00 PM

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Better Solutions for Healthcare

The August 21 edition of the Keckley Report announced that six notable associations representing health insurers and large employers formed Better Solutions for Healthcare (BSH): “An advocacy organization dedicated to bringing together employers, consumers, and taxpayers to educate lawmakers on the rising cost of healthcare and provide ideas on how we can work together to find better solutions that lower healthcare costs for ALL Americans.” BSH asserts, “over the last ten years alone, the cost of providing employee coverage has increased 47% with hospitals serving as the number one driver of healthcare costs.”

Its members, AHIP, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, the Business Group on Health, Public Sector Health Care Roundtable, National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions and the American Benefits Council, pledge to…

Promote hospital competition
Enforce Federal Price Transparency Laws for Hospital Charges
Rein in Hospital Price Mark-ups
Insure Honest Billing Practices

Employers and Hospitals Must Work Together to Create Value

I had the opportunity upon request to speak to the Texas Chapter of the Hospital Finance Association in Dallas (August 26). HFMA is a professional membership organization that helps healthcare finance management executives and professionals navigate the complexities of the healthcare industry.

I was asked to speak to the recently passed Texas House Bill 711 which became law in June after passage in the House (146-0) and Senate (30-1). HB711 now prohibits anti-competitive language in contracts between hospitals and health plans.

My message was one of a desire to better understand the perspectives of employer-payers and hospital providers. HBCH and its members want to work directly with hospitals to develop solutions that benefit both stakeholders.

Key points made to HFMA were:

We all share accountability
Transparency is here to stay, and employers are taking notice
Federal and state legislative “fixes” will continue
Employers are building state and national voices
Consumers are demanding change
Work with us to build a better future for all, before it gets worse for us all

You can access the PowerPoint used in the presentation by clicking here.

Chris Skisak, PhD, HBCH Executive Director