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BY HARRISON NEWMAN, VP, EMPLOYEE BENEFITS CONSULTANT MICHAEL RACHESKY, REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENT

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HOW VALUE-DRIVEN HEALTH PLANS ARE RESHAPING EMPLOYER-SPONSORED CARE Employers should consider how value-driven health plans can control costs while providing high quality care to staff. As healthcare premiums continue their relentless climb , employers face a familiar and frustrating cycle: enhance benefits to attract and retain talent, or scale them back to control costs. This tradeoff often results in higher out-of pocket expenses for employees, delayed care and growing dissatisfaction with the system. Harrison Newman and Michael Rachesky explain how value-driven health plans can help employers. It’s a cycle that’s been repeating for decades. We chase the deepest network discounts, tweak plan designs, switch carriers, shift costs and repackage the same offerings, but the results remain largely unchanged. As the saying goes, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” In many ways, that has been the story of employer-sponsored health insurance. Now, a shift is underway. Forward-thinking companies are beginning to view benefits through a new lens—not focused solely on network accessibility, size or discounts, but on total cost of care. This broader view considers the full scope of care-related expenses, including follow-up visits, complications and long-term outcomes. Just as HDHPs ushered in a new era of consumerism by encouraging employees to weigh cost in their decisions, today’s value-driven health plans build on that foundation—offering smarter choices through transparency, incentives and guided navigation, without sacrificing access or quality. Terabytes of network data, quality metrics and financial incentives are unlocking unprecedented transparency, making it easier than ever for members to find top-performing providers. Early adopters are already seeing the benefits: stabilized costs, improved outcomes and stronger employee engagement.

Value-driven plans rely

on data and analytics to elevate provider quality and guide smarter choices.

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