What Can U.S. Employers Do About Rising Healthcare Costs?

"Healthcare costs are surging again, and U.S. employers are on the front lines. They purchase coverage for more than half of all Americans and are confronting significant increases in premiums -double digit in some cases-after several years of more moderate growth. Can employers bend the spending curve? David Blumenthal , MD, is a professor of practice of public health and health policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health."

"He is the former president of the Commonwealth Fund and served as the National Coordinator for Health IT in the Obama Administration. Lovisa Gustafsson is a vice president at the Commonwealth Fund. She previously consulted for investor and industry clients on health policy and strategy issues. Sara R. Collins is the Commonwealth Fund's senior scholar for expanding healthcare coverage and access and tracking health system performance."

Healthcare costs are surging again and U.S. employers are on the front lines because they purchase coverage for more than half of all Americans. Employers are confronting significant increases in premiums, including double-digit rises in some cases, after several years of more moderate growth. The renewed acceleration in premium growth raises questions about employers' ability to control spending and maintain affordable coverage for employees. Addressing these trends will require attention to premium drivers, employer strategies, and broader measures that influence health care pricing and delivery.

Read at Harvard Business Review