Cyberattacks, Medicare changes hang over annual AHIP meeting
Amazon, Google and JPMorgan Chase — which have made entries into the health care sector — all have speakers on the AHIP 2024 agenda.
America’s Health Insurance Plans is meeting in Las Vegas this week, and everything has changed.
A year ago, the health insurers that belong to AHIP were focusing on efforts to expand and improve Medicare plan operations, while UnitedHealth was excited about its newly acquired Change Healthcare health data services unit.
This year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is holding down funding and the insurers at AHIP 2024 are worrying about their 2025 Medicare Advantage plan menus.
Meanwhile, UnitedHealth is having to cope with the aftermath of a ransomware attack on Change Healthcare that crippled the operations of many hospitals and physicians’ offices for weeks.
Other hot topics at AHIP 2024 include the rise of artificial intelligence, coverage for GLP-1 drugs for obesity, and efforts to improve health equity, according to AHIP.
Frustration with Medicare has not yet produced a resurgence in interest in the employee benefits market: AHIP 2024 is offering just two sessions that make direct references to employers.
One, featuring speakers from Mercer, Providence Health Plan and Voya Financial, will look at employee health benefits selection trends.
The other, featuring Urvashi Patel of Evernorth Research Institute, will present Evernorth’s employer survey research along with consumer and health insurance industry leader survey research.
Another AHIP 2024 agenda insight: Amazon and JPMorgan continue to for ways into AHIP’s world.
Amazon and JPMorgan Chase joined with Berkshire Hathaway to form Haven in 2018, an ill-fated effort to reboot employee health benefit programs. The Haven project ended in 2021, but Dr. Vin Gupta, the Amazon Pharmacy chief medical officer, is participating in a panel about making prescription drugs more affordable for everyone.
JPMorgan Chase has hired Dan Mendelson, the former CEO of Avalere Health, a high-profile health care advisory firm, to be the CEO of its Morgan Health arm. And while Haven may be gone, Morgan Health is still looking for ways to improve the quality, equity and affordability of employer-sponsored health care.
Related: JPMorgan’s health arm launches policy guide to push value-based care in employer plans
Google is also trying to stay in the game.
Dr. Garth Graham, global head of health care and public health at Google and YouTube, will speak at an AHIP 2024 session on restoring trust and health care.