What is the mission of NHPGH?
The New Hampshire Purchasers Group on Health seeks to increase the value of healthcare benefit spending to improve the health of the New Hampshire workforce by:
- Improving access to healthcare services;
- Encouraging transparency in reporting of healthcare cost and quality data;
- Highlighting high-value care;
- Analyzing trends in benefits design and contracting;
- Educating employees to make informed healthcare decisions; and
- Examining disparities in how healthcare is accessed and provided.
Why is being part of NHPGH essential for business?
The New Hampshire Business & Industry Association’s Legislative Agenda[i] for this year identifies workforce shortages and the high cost of employee healthcare as two significant priority issues for 2024. We see them as related.
Over the past decade, employer sponsored insurance plan premiums have risen above the rate of inflation and have outpaced wage growth.[ii] Most NH adults rely on employer-sponsored health plans for their insurance coverage,[iii] yet premiums and out of pocket expenses continue to rise, cutting into employees’ take-home pay.[iv] Families are paying more for healthcare, but receive less.
Most households’ savings are less than the maximum out-of-pocket limit allowed for most private insurance plans[v] and nearly two in five working-age adults reported delaying or skipping needed healthcare or prescription drug in the past year because they could not afford it.[vi]
Cost is not the only barrier to health. Profound health disparities continue to persist, based on race and ethnicity. When compared to white people, people of color live fewer years, are more likely to die from treatable conditions, are more likely to suffer serious pregnancy-related complications and are at a higher risk for chronic health conditions.[vii]
Being in poor health is associated with increased risk of job loss, while access to affordable health insurance has a positive effect on people’s ability to obtain and maintain employment.[viii]
The cost of healthcare, and how it is delivered, is partially responsible for New Hampshire’s workforce shortage. By engaging in conversations and initiatives to impact the healthcare system, employers are choosing to invest in the New Hampshire workforce.
By investing in the New Hampshire workforce, employers are investing in themselves.
[ii] https://www.americanprogress.org/article/health-insurance-costs-are-squeezing-workers-and-employers/
[iii] https://www.kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-population/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D
[iv] https://www.americanprogress.org/article/health-insurance-costs-are-squeezing-workers-and-employers/
[v] https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/brief/many-households-do-not-have-enough-money-to-pay-cost-sharing-in-typical-private-health-plans/#Median%20liquid%20assets%20of%20households%20and%20maximum%20out-of-pocket%20limit%20allowed%20in%20private%20plans%20for%20in-network%20services,%20by%20household%20size,%202019
[vi] https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/surveys/2023/oct/paying-for-it-costs-debt-americans-sicker-poorer-2023-affordability-survey#:%7E:text=Survey%20Highlights,51%20and%20percent%20with%20Medicare.