Concordia University Wisconsin and the Remedium eXange (Rx) Think Tank hosted its 6th annual Healthcare Economics Summit, which featured Gloria Sachdev, president and CEO of Employers' Forum of Indiana, as the keynote.
“With the trajectory we are on, families will (one day soon) be paying over $30,000 in average annual insurance premiums. We truly are on a non-sustainable track.”
—Gloria Sachdev, PharmD, president and CEO of Employers’ Forum of Indiana
Gloria Sachdev made waves–and headlines –this year when her non-profit organization released the results of a study that revealed how states stack up when it comes to hospital care costs. The study produced particular rancor for people in her home state of Indiana, since the Hoosier State came in seventh-highest for its towering hospital costs.
Wisconsin received much less media attention; however, CUW’s home state ranked fourth on the list.
The fact came as a revelation to many who attended yesterday’s Healthcare Economics Summit, which was hosted on Concordia’s campus. An audience of about 50 health care stakeholders gathered for the 6th annual event, for which Sachdev served as the keynote speaker.
Sachdev appeared virtually before the group to share efforts she and her organization, Employers’ Forum of Indiana, have been making over the past few years to remedy the problem.
Price transparency is an important first step in lowering health care costs, Sachdev told the group. In addition to advocating for policy change at the state and national levels, Employers’ Forum of Indiana has sought to aid transparency by publishing a digital tool, SAGE Transparency, which compiles key hospital data for consumers to access at their leisure.
“I think it’s really important to have choice in this matter,” Sachdev told the audience. “In this day and age, with inflation being so high, that matters. Benefit design is critical.”
Healthcare Economics Summit experts gather
Sachdev was among an impressive roster of health care, business, and thought leaders from across the nation who presented yesterday. Following her keynote, attendees heard compelling arguments on topics including direct primary care and the role of insurance, telehealth, Medicare and Medicaid, drug prices and whitebagging, and the legislative response to it all.
Presenters included:
- Kurt Mosley of MerrittHawkins
- Suzanne Gehl, MD, a family medicine doctor in Harford, Wisconsin
- David Balat, director of Right on Healthcare and the Texas Public Policy Foundation
- Ngan MacDonald, chief of data operations for the Institute for Augmented Intelligence in Medicine at Northwestern University
- Jim Kaput, CSO and co-founder at Vydiant
- Britt Gottschak, CEO and founder of Geno.Me
- Lisa Grabert, visiting research professor at Marquette University and former senior aide for Congress on the U.S. House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee
- Naomi Lopez, VP for healthcare policy at Goldwater Institute
- Mark Hamm, director of pharmacy oncology at Aurora Healthcare
- Sen. Mary Felzkowski (R), member of the joint finance committee and committee on insurance
- Brian Williams, legislative director of Benjamin Rush Institute
- Leah Vukmir, VP of state affairs for the National Taxpayers Union
- Rep. David Riemer (D), member of committee on health and committee on insurance
- Rep. Dan Knodl (R), chair of government accountability and oversight
— This story is written by Kali Thiel, director of university communications for Concordia University Wisconsin and Ann Arbor. She may be reached at kali.thiel@cuw.edu or 262-243-2149.
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