Health Research Institute (HRI) of PwC US explores the leading cross currents likely to shape medical cost trend next year. One of two factors expected to “inflate” the trend in 2013 is an uptick in the consumption of healthcare as newly hired workers obtain coverage and patients who postponed elective procedures feel more confident about spending. Medical and technological advances that provide more specialized, sophisticated and expensive treatment also are expected to push up overall healthcare spending.
Four factors HRI expects will “deflate” the medical cost trend in 2013 are: Market pressure to reduce medical supply and equipment costs; increased popularity of new methods to deliver primary care; increased availability of comparative cost information; and accelerated savings from the pharmaceutical patent cliff.
In this session, PricewaterhouseCoopers' Michael Thompson and Jack Rodgers expand upon significant research findings from two major PwC studies: the 2013 PwC Health Research Institute Behind the Numbers Report and PwC’s 2012 Touchstone Health and Well-being Employer Survey. The speakers will then offer resulting PwC insights on emerging megatrends for employer health strategy over the next 3-5 years.
The PwC 2013 Behind the Number Report indicates that U.S. employers can expect to see healthcare costs rise by 7.5 percent in 2013, compared with an increase of 8.5 percent in 2012, according to the annual Behind the Numbers report on medical cost trends, published by PwC’s Health Research Institute. The projection continues a pattern of slower medical growth, a reflection of the sluggish economy, increased focus on cost containment by the industry, lower use of services by cost-conscious patients and efforts by employers to hold down expenses.
According to the PwC 2012 Health and Well-Being Touchstone Survey employers are focused on two primary strategies to control medical costs in 2013: increasing the employee share of costs and expanding health and wellness programs. The survey also showed that plan design features with the most significant changes in 2012 were a considerable increase in in-network deductibles, emergency room co-payments and prescription drug co-payments.
This event provides stakeholders - including employers, health plans, providers and pharmaceutical companies - the opportunity to not only possess cutting-edge data on a spectrum of employer health plan benefit issues, but also gain key specific insights into how employers are positioning themselves strategically for incremental changes in the short term and more transformational changes over the next five years.
- Identify emerging megatrends for employer health strategy over the next 3-5 years
- Explore PwC research data findings from the Behind the Numbers 2013 Medical Cost Trend Report and the 2012 Touchstone Health and Well-being Employer Survey
- Consider the implications for Employers and other applicable stakeholders regarding PwC research findings
- Understand the primary deflators and inflators driving current medical cost trends
- Examine the range of actions and changes employers are undertaking or planning in regard to the health benefit environment
- Engage in interactive learning through online question submission, attendee feedback and opportunity for follow up questions, and networking with attendees, faculty and other professionals through dedicated LinkedIn group
Interested attendees would include:
- C-Suite Executives
- Health Benefit Executives and Staff
- Human Resources Executives
- Strategy and Planning Executives and Staff
- Marketing Executives
- Business Development Executives
- Actuarial Executives and Staff
- Business Intelligence Staff
- Informatics and Analytics Executives and Staff
- Other Interested Parties
Attendees would represent organizations including:
- Employers
- Health Plans
- Third Party Administrators
- Agents and Benefit Consulting Organizations
- Pharmaceutical Organizations
- PBMs
- Provider Networks and Accountable Care Organizations
- Hospitals and Health Systems
- Solutions Providers
- Associations, Institutes and Research Organizations
- Media
- Other Interested Organizations
| Individual Registration Fee: $195. Audio Conference CD-ROM: $40 for attendees; $285 for non-attendees after the event. | |||||
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Mike Thompson Principal, Human Resource Services, PricewaterhouseCoopers |
Michael Thompson is a Principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers with over 25 years of experience in healthcare and employee benefits strategy, product development and implementation, design, financing, operations and analysis. Mike consults with major employers and other stakeholders on sustainable cost reduction, integrated health, wellness and consumerism, retiree health, and health reform. Mike serves as one of PwC's national thought leaders for health strategies for the health industries practice, leading subject matter specialist on health reform and has participated on the steering board of the World Economic Forum "Working for Wellness" initiative. For the past decade has been a leader in developing and promoting collaborative cross-sector health industry initiatives. Mike is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) and serves on the Health Practices Committee, Disease Management Committee, Medicare Committee as well as chair of the Quality Initiatives Work Group of the American Academy of Actuaries (AAA) which has release issue briefs on pay-for performance, comparative effectiveness and value-based insurance design. Mike also serves on the boards of the New York chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the New York Business Group on Health. |
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Jack Rodgers PhD US Health Policy and Economics, PricewaterhouseCoopers |
Dr. Jack Rodgers has more than thirty years of experience with federal health policy and legislation related to health services and healthcare reform. He has written extensively about issues such as expanding health insurance coverage, Medicare provider reimbursement, and healthcare systems reform. While at PwC, Jack has assisted major healthcare organizations in evaluating the impact of federal legislation from the Clinton health proposals in 1993-1994 to the current economic stimulation package. During the past eight years, he has written extensively on the impact of the Medicare prescription drug benefit on the various healthcare industry stakeholders. He served as a consultant to President Clinton's White House Task Force on Health Reform as part of a group of experts who audited the quantitative estimates of the President's health reform plan. Before joining PwC, Jack was principal analyst for health at the Congressional Budget Office for nine years where he worked on the 1987 Medicare prescription drug legislation and also analyzed the first Bush Administration’s proposals to expand coverage. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Minnesota. |
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