Dive Brief:
- After success with negotiating direct contracts with local health systems last year to lower healthcare costs in the Seattle area, Boeing has added new contracts for employees in Charleston, S.C. and St. Louis. The approximately 19,000 employees will have the option to choose the new health plans in 2016.
- Boeing said companies must agree to reach targets for cost, quality and patient satisfaction. Dr. Joseph Gifford, chief executive for accountable care for Providence-Swedish Health Alliance, which contracted with Boeing last year, said, "Obviously they bring serious business pressure into the equation." He added that employer service demands often exceed typical expectations in the healthcare industry.
- Boeing is only one of a few companies that negotiate directly with health care systems to provide employee health benefits or specific services. Intel contracts directly with Presbyterian Healthcare Services in New Mexico.
Dive Insight:
Although employees do not have to choose the new health plans, those that do will select a narrow network in exchange for free primary care and generic prescriptions, reduced premiums, and larger contributions to health savings accounts.
Jeff White, Boeing's director of healthcare strategy, said financial incentives were a draw for 30 percent of eligible Puget Sound employees who selected new plans this year, with more expected to enroll. There's not enough data yet to determine any savings, White added, but early quality indicators suggest improvement in preventive care.