Nearly three years after the huge announcement with that three mega corps would band together to fix healthcare, we find out that Haven is disbanding. Surprising? Not really. Healthcare is a $3.7 Trillion industry. Most cannot comprehend just how large that is. Removing the waste, the abuse, is no easy task when you consider that the industry will go down fighting to keep their slice of the pie. Too, this ABC venture has deep roots in the existing healthcare ecosystem. Consider Amazon’s recent expansion into retail pharmacy – essentially plugging into the existing infrastructure versus disrupting and disintermediating it.
The good news is that American businesses don’t need nearly this type of scale nor capital to transform the way healthcare is purchased and delivered to their people. There is a large grassroots movement across the country of both small and mid-sized companies that have taken back control of their healthcare dollars. Companies like Keystone Technology in Eureka, MO with just 20 employees that for 3 years straight have seen their costs go down by over a third and their benefits improved with it. Or Shine Solar in Rogers, AR whose employees rang in the New Year with a $0 deductible and premiums slashed in half. That’s the change happening across the country and the solutions are replicable.
Employers embracing this type of change and those excited about the opportunity to take back control of this massive investment in healthcare will be well positioned for incredible growth, talent attraction, and profitability. There’s no need to wait for a mega deal among corporate giants to figure out our healthcare woes. Evidence-based solutions to provide better benefits, better health outcomes, and improve costs for both company and employee already exist. It just takes common sense and will to take the first step.
