What is the Kansas Business Group on Health?

Addressing a need

The secret is out: healthcare in the United States is expensive.  Shocker, right?  As insurance premiums are steadily on the rise and as pharmaceuticals are becoming less and less affordable, it sometimes feels like there is no end in sight.  Employers, who provide insurance coverage for over half of the U.S. population, are really feeling the pinch.  Now more than ever before, maximizing efficiency in benefit and insurance design is key.  Where can employers turn to for guidance, resources, and sharing of best practices?

The Kansas Business Group on Health (formerly the Wichita Business Coalition on Health Care), a non-profit membership organization based out of Wichita, KS, exists to do just that.  Our mission is to help employers lower their healthcare costs by identifying and disseminating resources, best practices, and innovative approaches for benefit and insurance design.  We provide relevant education, networking opportunities, and now also negotiate discounted, group-rate pricing on services that are proven to lower costs.

A little bit of history

Started in 2008 as part of the “Visioneering Wichita” initiative, the Wichita Business Coalition on Health Care (WBCHC) was created as a multi-stakeholder group, including employer groups, medical providers, insurance companies, brokers, and other stakeholders, that was focused on addressing healthcare costs in Wichita.  The Coalition has had great leaders from the beginning, starting with Ron Whiting and then Janet Hamous at the helm.  In August 2018, Janet decided to retire.  At this time, it was decided that the organization would come under the Medical Society of Sedgwick County.  Shelley Duncan, Matt Thibault, and Dr. Justin Moore, who all work in other programs at the Medical Society, stepped in continue the momentum built by Ron and Janet.

Where we are now

As part of our new identify under the Medical Society, it was decided to shake things up and change our name to what you see today – the Kansas Business Group on Health (KBGH).  Another new addition to the organization was the recruitment of Dr. Justin Moore, who now serves as the KBGH’s Medical Director.  The WBCHC has provided relevant and informed educational offerings for years, but in looking at ways we could add more value for our members, we also made the decision to become a “purchaser coalition”.  This means we negotiate discounted pricing on resources to help our members control costs, in addition to the education and networking opportunities already being provided.  Here’s a rundown of all the ways we can help.

Member resources

We are continually working to identify and provide resources to our members that provide value and can meaningfully reduce costs. As we looked into what resources we offer our members, we sought to identify high cost areas that generally affect all employers. With that in mind, we identified pharmacy, diabetes, and health literacy as areas of opportunity. Because of this, we have entered into group purchasing arrangements with the following organizations to help address these issues:

• Right Rx, a therapeutic equivalent program which works behind the scenes to identify lower cost versions of medications your employees are taking that provide the same efficacy.

• Living Connected (CCS Medical), a diabetes management and supplies program that helps patients manage their diabetes in real-time, which helps to prevent complications and improve quality of life.

• Quizzify, a health literacy program that educates your employees on Choosing Wisely guidelines and how to better utilize the healthcare system in a fun, Jeopardy-style format .  This is an important issue, as only 12% of Americans are considered health-literate, and health-illiterate people spend 80% more on healthcare than their health-literate counterparts.

The Kansas Business Group on Health now also offers a new insurance option for small to medium-sized, fully-insured employers who wish to become self-insured.  This new option provides all the benefits of being self-insured with decreased financial risk by being in pool with other healthy employers.

Visit our Initiatives page to learn more about any of the resources mentioned in this article.  If you have any other questions please contact us!