David Contorno is a leading benefits consultant that reported on a visit a group of employers and unions made to Florida and the Cayman Islands. They collectively represented 24 million people and are frustrated by what Leah Binder calls "Subprime Healthcare" in her piece about a breakthrough business alliance. These are the early adopters of the components of the Health Rosetta including the Transparent Medical Market portion.
Contorno captured the paradox of employers stepping over dollars to save pennies in New Way to Lower Healthcare Costs.
“Managers are more likely to limit rental cars to $30 a day than limit an open heart surgery to $100,000 — for ethical and regulatory reasons, many executives steer clear of involving themselves in healthcare decisions, other than selecting the broadest possible network access. But few expenses that executives know so little about matter more than those involved in healthcare do.
This article speaks to a cultural shift that could provide tremendous impact for employers. They can now lower costs while also improving outcomes.”
The kicker in the article is his summary:
“Open heart surgery at a beautiful, modern facility an hour from Miami costs $1,400 — vs. the average of $324,000 in the U.S.”
It sounds almost impossible or that it must be some sham medical operation. Yet, it's a joint venture between the largest U.S. non-profit health system and a renowned organization with health outcomes that matches any medical center in the world.
Having recently visited the Cayman Islands enjoying the warmth and beauty, as long as I could fly, I'd be happy to have my employer or insurance company fly me there with that kind of savings and outcomes.
Closer to home, they started the tour in Orlando to experience the remarkable results the Rosen Hotels has had. With employees with more difficult than average medical challenges (e.g., 56% of pregnancies are high risk due to TB, HIV and advanced maternal age), they manage to spend 50% less per capita while providing outstanding benefits to their employees.
It's no wonder Rosen has employee turnover 1/6 lower than their competitors. Increasingly smart employers will realize there are alternatives.
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