Beyond the bottom line: A comprehensive approach to health care

Just about everyone has something to say regarding rising health care costs. It’s a hot topic, and it doesn’t take long for conversations to get heated with constructive debate devolving into nothing more than finger pointing across parties, short-sighted and impractical regulatory recommendations, and inevitably, cost shifting to employees.

Time to step back and really look at the problem with health care costs

When it comes to rising health care costs, talk is cheap. With health care costs soaring at a staggering pace — and little connectivity to employee health or certainty of its improvement — now’s the time (pardon the business speak) to think outside the box.

"Discounts are not a sustainable solution to rising health care costs. Employers must prioritize preventive care to create a healthier, more productive workforce." Shares Carl McGowan, Vice President of Marketing Commercial Markets at Florida Blue.

Looking at health care costs from all angles

The truth is, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to affordability for employers. Instead, it takes a willingness from many stakeholders to collaborate and innovate to fix a current system that is unsustainable.

By taking a comprehensive approach to health care, health insurers’ role can expand beyond just processing health insurance payments. They’re capable of so much more. In fact, health insurers are uniquely positioned to offer ways to help the health care system work better. Working with an employer and examining the total cost of care, insurers can identify areas of inefficiency and waste, and implement strategies to reduce costs and improve outcomes.

Getting better insights (and outcomes) from a 3-D view

Florida Blue, a leader in the health care space, has taken the opportunity to recognize conflicting incentives and facilitate win-win health solutions that can:

• Bend the cost curve ─ sustainably reducing the upward trajectory of costs
• Reward value created for all parties – through collaboration and incentives
• Deliver healthier populations – strategically investing in productive workforces

Florida Blue’s total cost of care unique methodology is described as a Three-Dimensional View of Health Care Cost. It takes into account drivers, impacts, and controls.

Cost drivers

Work with the employer and consultant to explore cost drivers — as well as future risks — in an employer’s entire health care spend. From medical care to medicines, and all the administration in between, it’s critical to look at direct as well as divertible and avoidable costs across the care continuum.

Cost impacts

Collaborate with employers and consultants to reduce costs and improve health outcomes of employees through the development of a multiyear roadmap that produces sustainable savings without the need for drastic plan design changes.

Cost controls

Every solution proposed adds the additional lens of how it impacts both employer and employee. While cost shifting to employees is popular as a tool for reducing employer costs, it can also increase turnover or trigger financial hardship for employees. This in turn can negatively impact employee productivity and engagement.

Working to contain costs and maintain satisfaction

How is this 3-D view on health care costs relevant to you?

Simply put, it’s a proactive approach to optimizing health benefits and keeping costs in check. Businesses that trust Florida Blue to insure their employees can think of the 3-D approach to controlling health care costs as a “behind the scenes” checkup and treatment plan for a company’s health benefits.

Florida Blue’s ultimate goal for businesses and their employees: lower costs, improve health outcomes, increase productivity, and achieve greater satisfaction. As Carl McGowan notes, “By moving the needle on the care spectrum, employers can not only offset costs but also create a healthier, more productive workforce that benefits both a business and their employees."

Talk with your local broker or consultant on how Florida Blue’s approach and expertise with total cost of care can help develop a comprehensive health care strategy that aligns with your business’s unique goals and focuses on sustainability and success.