Employers across Wisconsin are facing a challenge that affects every business, every employee, and every community: health care costs continue to rise faster than inflation and wage growth. Recent research comparing hospital prices in Wisconsin and Illinois found that Wisconsin hospitals are paid approximately 26% more for the same inpatient services, even when comparing similar hospitals, health systems, and insurers. The study concluded that these higher prices are largely driven by market structure and pricing dynamics rather than differences in the care being delivered. Read the full article here.

For employers, these higher prices show up in rising premiums, higher deductibles, and increasing pressure on compensation and benefit budgets. For communities, they affect  affordability, access, and the long-term sustainability of our health care system. The findings reinforce something BHCG and our members have recognized for years: improving health care affordability requires more than simply shifting costs. It requires changing the way health care is purchased, delivered, and measured.

That is why your engagement with BHCG matters. As individual employers, influence is limited. Together, as a coalition, we represent a collective voice focused on improving quality and cost-efficiency, advancing transparency, and creating opportunities to steer employees and their families toward high-value care. By working together, employers can help set market expectations that reward value rather than volume and outcomes rather than utilization.

Value-based care is one of the most promising strategies for achieving that goal. At its core, value-based care aligns payment with quality, outcomes, and patient experience rather than the number of services provided. That is why BHCG is committed to the High- Performance Health Plan and is exploring additional opportunities through Centers of Excellence and better Primary Care.

Through data-driven initiatives, employer education, collaborative purchasing strategies, and support for value-based care models, we are working to help employers become more informed purchasers of health care and stronger advocates for affordability and quality.

The recent Wisconsin-Illinois comparison highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability while reinforcing the importance of collective action. Employers have a unique role to play in shaping the health care market and the work we do together can help create a system that delivers better value for employees, their families, and the broader community.