In this edition:

• 🔼 Employer health care costs to rise 9% next year

• 🟰 How to align private equity and nursing home outcomes

• 🖥️ Pfizer launches direct to consumer site

• 💊 Preventing spike in Medicare drug premiums

• And more!

Employer health care costs to rise 9% next year

The average cost of employer-sponsored health care coverage in the U.S. is expected to increase 9.0 percent*, surpassing $16,000 per employee in 2025, according to Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm.

This projected increase, which assumes employers do not implement employee cost sharing increases and other cost saving strategies, is higher than the 6.4 percent increase to health care budgets that employers experienced from 2023 to 2024 after cost savings strategies.

On average, the budgeted health-plan cost for clients is $14,823 per employee in 2024. The analysis uses Aon's Health Value Initiative database, which captures information for more than 950 U.S. employers representing approximately 6.7 million employees.

Medical claims continue to trend at elevated levels, while prescription drug costs are climbing higher due to continued growth in specialty drugs and increased utilization of GLP-1 medications for diabetes and obesity.

Aligning private equity and nursing home outcomes

Aging America needs more investment in nursing homes, and private equity (PE) can be a worthwhile source. But a study by experts at Wharton and elsewhere revealed a mixed bag of patient outcomes.

The study found that PE-owned nursing homes tend to admit patients with lower health risk, likely because they are cheaper or more profitable to serve. At the same time, PE ownership of nursing homes triggers an 11% increase in mortality.

Declines in measures of patient well-being, nurse staffing, and compliance with care standards help to explain the mortality effect, according to a paper titled “Owner Incentives and Performance in Healthcare: Private Equity Investment in Nursing Homes.”

“Overall, we conclude that PE has nuanced effects with adverse outcomes for a subset of patients,” said Wharton professor of health care management Atul Gupta, who co-authored the paper with finance professors Sabrina T. Howell from NYU Stern School of Business, Constantine Yannelis from Chicago Booth School of Business, and Abhinav Gupta from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School.

Pfizer launches direct to consumer site

Pfizer Inc. introduced PfizerForAll , a user-friendly digital platform designed to make access to healthcare and managing health and wellness more seamless for people across the U.S.

The new, end-to-end experience will support the millions of Americans affected annually by common illnesses like migraine, COVID-19 or flu, and those seeking to protect themselves with adult vaccinations.

By bringing together critical resources and services into a single destination, PfizerForAll helps individuals and their families cut down on the time and steps needed to take important health actions like getting care, filling prescriptions, and finding potential savings on Pfizer medicines.

Pfizer is working within the existing U.S. healthcare system and partnering with a growing network of healthcare organizations to launch and develop PfizerForAll. Patients will be able to use existing insurance and pharmacy programs and will also benefit from new direct services from partners including UpScriptHealth , Alto Pharmacy and Instacart .

Billions to be spent to prevent spike in Medicare drug premiums

One of President Joe Biden’s signature domestic achievements is set to cause a significant spike in Medicare premiums for millions of Americans just ahead of the November election. Now, his administration is preparing to dole out billions of dollars to private insurance companies to blunt the impact of the increase.

The jump in premiums is a consequence of efforts to reduce what older Americans pay for prescription drugs, part of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. Insurance companies are on the hook for what patients used to pay and are raising drug plan premiums to make up the difference.

The new premiums will be released in mid-to-late September and could open up the Harris-Walz campaign to a spate of negative headlines. Vice President Kamala Harris has repeatedly touted the Biden administration’s efforts to lower Medicare costs and weaved the idea through her remarks on growing the “care economy.” A drastic uptick in health insurance premiums a few weeks before the election could muddy that message and give Republicans an easy line of attack, especially as inflation remains a critical presidential campaign issue.