January 12th, 2012

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports some of the largest Philadelphia-area employers are joining together to combat rising health-care costs.

The coalition believes their larger, combined size will give the group more clout and power to deal with insurers, hospitals and drug benefit providers.  The coalition plans to use a variety of tools, including report card type evaluations, to reshape health care in the region.

Similar coalitions exist throughout the country, but this is the first in the Philadelphia-area.  Philadelphia is believed to have lagged in creating this type of coalition because many of the major employers in the region are medical service providers.