Alabama Employer Healthcare Consortium and Economic Alliance for Michigan recognized for member leadership
WASHINGTON – November 19, 2024 – The National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions (National Alliance) acknowledged the efforts of employers and member coalitions at its 2024 Annual Forum – Manifesting a New Destiny: Employers Creating the Future of Healthcare. 32BJ Health Fund and Rosen Hotels & Resorts received the 2024 Employer/Purchaser Excellence Award and the Alabama Employer Healthcare Consortium and Economic Alliance for Michigan were honored with the 2024 Member Leadership Award.
“These awards recognize the efforts of employers, purchasers and member coalitions committed to promoting healthcare value while improving the health and wellbeing for America’s working families,” said Shawn Gremminger, National Alliance president and CEO. “Achieving market and policy reforms requires that we all work together and 32BJ Health Fund and Rosen Hotels are excellent examples of purchasers that are driving market change while sharing their learnings to help others do the same.”
The Employer/Purchaser Excellence Award is presented to a jumbo- and a mid-sized employer or purchaser who demonstrates leadership and innovation in advancing overall health and healthcare value through their approach to benefit programs and design, employee engagement, and support of coalition efforts. Previous award recipients include Bell & Evans, The Boeing Company, East Penn Manufacturing, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Phifer Incorporated, Prudential Financial, Qualcomm, Turner Industries, Walmart, and The Walt Disney Company.
32BJ Health Fund
A unique collaboration between labor and management, 32BJ Health Fund provides innovative quality and affordable health benefits to eligible 32BJ SEIU members and their dependents – more than 210,000 property service workers including doormen and women, office cleaners, and security guards in New York and 12 other states – on behalf of more than 5,000 employers. Hospital prices are the core driver of high and rising healthcare costs and significant savings could be realized if employers and other purchasers – including unions – could more easily identify hospital price inflation and act on that information to reduce their healthcare spend. Focused on that goal the Fund has played a leadership role in challenging the status quo of the healthcare industry through progressive purchasing including low member cost share, benefit steerage through network design, and expanded centers of excellence. Most recently the Fund completed a contract-first RFP for a medical administrator where all final bidders submitted a redlined contract. The Fund is a member of the Northeast Business Group on Health.
“32BJ Health Fund is laser focused on containing healthcare costs for 32BJ members and employers,” said Cora Opsahl, director, 32BJ Health Fund. “We’ve put significant resources towards understanding the cost drivers and as a result have changed the way we negotiate and contract with health plans, providers and hospital systems. No one employer can fix our broken healthcare system and that’s why we’ve made available these resources for other purchasers to leverage and work with us to advance the goal of providing high-quality affordable healthcare to our members and America’s working families.”
Founded in 1974 by Harris Rosen, the independently owned Rosen Hotels & Resorts is a collection of seven Orlando-area properties with three convention hotels and four leisure hotels. Rosen Hotels & Resorts is an active member of the Florida Alliance for Healthcare Value. The company’s health plan covers approximately 4,600 lives through a value-based, comprehensive, self-funded healthcare program known as RosenCare, which was initiated more than 30 years ago and has improved health outcomes, saved lives and saved the company an estimated $500 million. Rosen Hotels & Resorts offers healthcare services to its associates and their families at significantly reduced costs. This includes no deductibles or co-insurance, no co-pay for preventive visits at Rosen Medical Center and $0 cost share for over 90% of all pharmaceuticals, including insulin and specialty medications. A new virtual program has also proven successful. It is staffed by ER providers and was implemented to help members receive virtual care, treatment and understand how and when to access urgent and emergency care. Rosen has seen a sizeable decrease in non-emergent use, especially for those who previously visited the ER more than once within a year. The virtual ER team works hand-in-hand with the Rosen Medical Center to follow-up with ER patients to help with their care management. The goal is to prevent repeated ER visits. The company’s success inspired RosenHealth and RosenCare Powered by PeopleOne Health to give other employers the opportunity to achieve similar results.
“The savings generated from our efforts have enabled us to invest millions of dollars into community initiatives, particularly focused on education and healthcare access,” said Kenneth Aldridge, Director of Health Services, Rosen Hotels & Resorts. “It’s been a gamechanger for us.”
Alabama Employer Health Consortium
The Alabama Employer Health Consortium (AEHC) is an employer-led non-profit organization established in 2018 focused on empowering employers through collaboration, education, and advocacy to address healthcare value. The organization is focused on hospital safety and transparency serving the as the regional leader for The Leapfrog Group and offers educational webinars and events focused on employer concerns such as migraines, high-cost claims, drug costs, and fiduciary responsibilities. The coalition is also involved in national projects such as the RAND hospital price transparency study to ensure Alabama employers have access to transparent and accurate pricing information crucial for making informed healthcare purchasing decisions. Its board chair also recently offered testimony to Congress on the impact of high healthcare prices to America’s businesses.
“The AEHC believes that the employer is the key to fixing our broken healthcare system,” said Michael Howard, AEHC president and CEO “Their financial stake and interest in good outcomes make them natural change agents toward higher value care. Our employer members have picked up that role and are running with it.”
Economic Alliance for Michigan
The Economic Alliance for Michigan (EAM) has been a pioneer in elevating women’s health issues in the workplace to holistically address issues such as caregiving, mental health, financial wellbeing, and more. As a result of EAM’s leadership, more coalitions and employers are dedicating time and resources to women’s health issues and its members are adding coverage and support for conditions that were not previously prioritized such as menopause. The organization also plays a leadership role in advancing state and federal health policy issues on behalf of employers.
“The EAM team tirelessly works to create top shelf educational and advocacy programs and to be recognized for our efforts is a true honor,” said Bret Jackson, EAM president and CEO. “We are successful because of the support and input from our membership and our coalition partners within the National Alliance. We look forward to 2025 and collaborating on initiatives that will curb the rising costs and diminishing quality of health care working families receive.”
The 2024 Member Leadership Award is sponsored by Astellas Pharma Inc.
About National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions
For over 30 years, the National Alliance has united business coalitions and their employer/purchaser members to achieve high-quality care that improves patient experience, health equity, and outcomes at lower costs. Its members represent private and public sector, nonprofit, and labor union organizations that provide health benefits for more than 45 million Americans and spend over $400 billion annually. To learn more, visit nationalalliancehealth.org and connect on LinkedIn.
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