Innovation, influence and business in America's medical cities.

Check out this study from the Healthcare Performance Management Institute, a business-backed think tank that promotes self-insurance among employers. The survey claims that insurance companies are refusing to provide employers with detailed data about employee claims, citing privacy concerns. The result is that employers do not have the data that would allow them to better control their own costs by promoting employee health.

Prevention got a huge shot in the arm through health care reform. But, sadly, most of what passes for prevention is actually delivery of preventive health care services like mammograms (mandatory under the legislation no matter what age the woman), colonoscopies and cholesterol-lowering medications. Not that those are bad things. It’s just that they are not the same as promoting individual health, which is the surest way to lower your own personal health care expenditures.

HPMI claims “a growing number of corporate buyers of healthcare coverage for their employees are choosing to self-insure” because of their inability to get employee claims data. I have no idea if that’s true. But as employers struggle to hold down health care premiiums in the years ahead, I don’t doubt that it will happen.

Wellness programs that “engage employees and family members in material health improvement initiatives” are proven cost-savers. And if you think it’s just a plot by big business, check out the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees District 31 program in Illinois. If you are an employer, becoming self-insured and establishing a well-run wellness program and coordinating care for employees with chronic disease is the fastest and surest path to short-run savings in health care costs.