decorative background image

Transparency & Affordability

Transparency Initiative: Leading the Way to Affordable, High Quality Health Care

PBGH has a longstanding strategic imperative to transform the way health care is purchased and managed and to advocate for competitive health care policy reforms – all to support affordable, quality care for employers and public purchasers and the millions of American workers and their families who receive employer-sponsored health insurance. Through a coordinated effort, we have developed innovative, market shaping programs and resources for employers, successfully influenced legislation, and meaningfully contributed to the ongoing dialogue on health care affordability and strategies to improve health care.

Over the past year we have focused on driving health care value and provider accountability through data-driven insights as part of our Transparency Initiative. We developed the PBGH Health Care Data Demonstration Project to fill a critical gap and show employers how they can use data to achieve meaningful insights in health care costs and value. The project uses transparency in coverage (TiC) and hospital transparency data to empower employer fiduciaries in making informed health care decisions. It has also been used to inform policy work to make transparency data usable and support refinement and enforcement of transparency regulations. Read more about the PBGH Health Care Data Demonstration Project.

 

Advocating for Impactful Health Care Policies

PBGH’s policy positions are rooted in evidence, a deep understanding of the complexities and challenges of the health care system, and the impact on affordability. In our policy advocacy we emphasize the importance of transparent pricing, employer access to data, industry consolidation, PBM reform, limiting anticompetitive business practices and access to care – all critical components for sustainable, high-quality, affordable health care.

Our pioneering policy advocacy created transparency requirements, and we remain committed to supporting its evolution. Key learnings from the PBGH Health Care Data Demonstration Project have informed discussions with policymakers on our experience with transparency data, the depth of actuarial and analytical infrastructure required to aggregate the data and improve its usability to achieve its intended potential.

Here is our body of work on policies to enable affordability through transparency:

 

Engaging Education on Effective Purchasing and Strategies for Success

Our annual events, webinars and roundtable discussions serve as vital platforms for dialogue, knowledge sharing and strategy development among the most passionate, dedicated and innovative benefits leaders. These events have spotlighted learnings and insights throughout the PBGH Health Care Data Demonstration Project and the strategies employer participants are using for effective purchasing and accelerating meaningful change.

UPCOMING EVENT:  Register to attend our virtual event, Are We There Yet? Making Transparency Work for Purchasers and Patients, September 24, 9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. PT, for insights from the PBGH Health Care Data Demonstration Project. The project has achieved an industry-first: pushing the boundaries of data access and analytics to create a coherent view of transparency data, comparative commercial health data, employer data, and quality and safety data to strengthen employers’ fiduciary compliance. Register Today!

Contributing to Dialogue on Health Care Affordability

PBGH consistently advocates for transparency as a cornerstone of health care reform. Our leadership team, including CEO Elizabeth Mitchell, are frequently called upon to share their knowledge and insights. Our leaders emphasize the critical role of transparency data and data access in empowering employers to be prudent fiduciaries.

Here are some of our recent engagements:

Transparency is not just a dataset. It Is a catalyst for accountability and health system reform.

Our stewardship in sharing our methodology, outcomes from the PBGH Health Care Data Demonstration Project, key learnings and comparative commercial benchmark data is to develop and share practical tools so employer fiduciaries can make strategic and informed decisions about their health care spend to ultimately benefit millions of American workers and their families. Together, employers can leverage their purchasing power and collective action to compel positive change in health care.

 

Achieve Fiduciary Excellence: Contact PBGH Advisory Services

The PBGH Health Care Data Demonstration Project was led by PBGH Advisory Services, an independent, unconflicted expert advisor that has earned employer trust in managing the complexities of fiduciary risk, and evaluating and negotiating high-quality, cost-effective health care benefits for employees.

PBGH Advisory is scaling tools used in its PBGH Health Care Data Demonstration Project to help employers and public purchasers across the country achieve fiduciary excellence. To get started, contact Aurora Chen, Vice President, PBGH Advisory Services.

Contact

Aurora Chen
Vice President, Advisory Services
achen@pbgh.org