https://mailchi.mp/09f9563acfcf/gist-weekly-february-2-2024?e=d1e747d2d8

“What if 10 percent, or even five percent, of the employers in our market decide to stop providing health benefits?” a Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at a midsized health system in the Southeast recently asked.

“Their health insurance costs have been growing like crazy for 20 years. Some of these companies could easily decide to just give their employees some amount of tax-advantaged dollars and let them do their own thing.” An emerging option for employers is the relatively new individual coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA), which allows employers to give tax-deductible contributions to employees to use for healthcare, including purchasing health insurance on an exchange. 

According to the CSO, “What happens is this: We’ll go from getting 250 percent of Medicare for beneficiaries in a commercial group plan to getting 125 percent for beneficiaries in a market plan. I don’t know any provider with the margins to withstand that kind of shift without significant pain—certainly not us.” 
 

The conversation shifted to a discussion about treating employers like true customers that pay generously for healthcare services, which involves increasing engagement with them and better understanding their specific problems with their employees’ healthcare. What complaints are they hearing about their employee’s difficulties with things like making timely appointments or finding after-hours care?

Provider organizations can help keep employers in the health insurance market by regularly checking in with them about their healthcare challenges, meaningfully focusing on mitigating their pain points, and exploring new kinds of mutually beneficial partnerships. 

They should also carefully monitor the employer market in their region and create financial assessments of the potential impact of employers shifting employees to health insurance stipend arrangements.