Recently, we came across a smart video that showcased Dr. Howard Grant, Pediatrician and CEO of Lahey Health, addressing the fact that healthcare costs in the state of Massachusetts are the highest in the nation. Not only did he give his opinion on why this is the case, but he also discussed what must by done by all – health systems, government, providers, employers, insurers and consumers – to solve this problem and bring the state back in line with the rest of the country.

Dr. Grant believes the driving factor in this gap is the fact that, “residents of Massachusetts receive superb care, but all too often they receive that care in the most costly setting possible.” He asks, “Why do consumers, employers and insurers choose higher cost settings for most of their hospitalization needs…especially when studies have shown that price variations are not correlated to quality of care?”

Brooks Goodison, President of Diversified Group, weighed in on the issue at hand and the video content put forth by Dr. Howard Grant:

Helping employers provide high quality health plans for their employees is a daunting task at times. Today, I found a ray of hope from an unexpected place. I strongly encourage you to take 16 minutes out of your day to listen to this video from Howard Grant, CEO of Lahey Health System in Massachusetts. Dr. Grant is also a pediatrician. I give him credit for getting out in front of a problem that his system is clearly part of. It is steps like this that will help us ALL move in the right direction. I think that EVERYONE needs to understand what Dr. Grant is saying here. Please use this as a way to educate yourself and perhaps change the way you think about healthcare. This is a great starting point to understanding and moving in the direction of a solution. Our healthcare system is an irrational market with very little, if any, meaningful competition. I think we can all agree that the path we are on is unsustainable. Just look at what we are losing in opportunity cost alone. The more we spend on healthcare the less we have for salaries, growth of our business, education, retirement and public resources.

At Diversified Group, we will continue to do our part but we cannot do this successfully alone. We all need to learn, dig in and do our parts. We need everyone involved – most importantly your employees and their dependents all the way to the stop-loss carriers and everyone in between if we want to make a meaningful change in how we pay for healthcare.

Watch the full video here: https://www.linkedin.com/hp/update/6151466097473261568