Affordability in Action: Joining Forces to Lower Hospital Prices

The U.S. healthcare system is working exactly as it was designed. That’s bad news for employers and patients grappling with unsustainable hospital prices. Former industry insiders—from hospital leadership to insurance executives—will unpack how corporate structures and incentives often drive hospitals to maximize profits. The good news? They know it doesn’t have to be this way.                                                                                                  

A movement to lower hospital prices is gaining steam across the country. Legislators are willing to take bold actions to address unregulated commercial market hospital pricing. Learn how enacted legislation in other states, and opportunities in New York State like the Fair Pricing Act, could improve affordability for employers and patients. 

The current arbitration process for determining out-of-network payments threatens healthcare affordability, leaving employers and union health funds on the hook for exponentially increasing out-out-network costs. Experts will dissect IDR’s unintended consequences and explain how purchasers can work with advocates to demand regulatory relief—and ultimately, reform. 

Anti-competitive contracting practices can challenge employers’ ability to negotiate lower hospital prices and encourage patients to seek higher-value care. This panel will focus on what comes next: how purchasers can push back against hospital market power, and when policy changes or litigation may be necessary to create a more affordable, competitive healthcare market.