Linda Schwimmer's guest appearances

Linda Schwimmer

Listening In (With Permission): Conversations About Today's Pressing Health Care Topics

Unlocking Accountable Care

Corey Waller

Chris Allen

Jaime King

John McDonough

Doug Gray

Niall Brennan

Michael Chernew

David Jones

Larry Becker

John Bass

Tom Lee

Mike Thompson

Thea James

Jeffrey Davis

Peter Kilmartin

OwlTail

Andréa Caballero, MPA, speaks with Linda Schwimmer, JD, President and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute (Quality Institute) to learn about a pressing issue: the health of New Jersey’s Small Group Insurance Market. This market, which covers employers with 2-50 employees in the Garden State, is on the precipice of a downward spiral. At its height, it covered upward of 1 million consumers, but now its enrollment is hovering at about 300k consumers with the further threat of adverse selection creating an imbalanced risk pool. Without doing something to address this issue, the small group market, which offers small businesses a secure option for comprehensive health insurance, may effectively disappear in the Garden State. New Jersey is not alone; due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as changes in health insurance regulations in the U.S., there is concern for the health of small group insurance markets all across the country. Linda Schwimmer explores how the health of the small group market impacts self-funded employers, the rise of alternative employer-sponsored health plans known as level-funded insurance, and, finally, what the short and long-term policy solutions are for strengthening the small group market. Interestingly, regulations that prohibit the use of high-value purchasing strategies, like site of service-based payments, reference pricing, and preferred drug lists, may be negatively impacting the small group market. While this episode strays a bit from CPR’s focus in self-funded health care coverage, it provides important insights on the interconnectedness of the health insurance ecosystem at large. As Linda points out, when one insurance market is suffering, there are implications for the health system as a whole.For more information on this topic, read the Quality Institute’s July 2020 White Paper, “Short and Long-Term Strategies to Support Health Care Affordability and Price Transparency for Small Employers and Consumers in New Jersey. https://www.njhcqi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Short-and-Long-Term-Strategies-to-Support-Health-Care-Affordability-and-Price-Transparency-for-Small-Employers-and-Consumers-in-New-Jersey.pdf

Andréa Caballero, MPA, speaks with Linda Schwimmer, JD, President and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute (Quality Institute) to learn about a pressing issue: the health of New Jersey’s Small Group Insurance Market. This market, which covers employers with 2-50 employees in the Garden State, is on the precipice of a downward spiral. At its height, it covered upward of 1 million consumers, but now its enrollment is hovering at about 300k consumers with the further threat of adverse selection creating an imbalanced risk pool. Without doing something to address this issue, the small group market, which offers small businesses a secure option for comprehensive health insurance, may effectively disappear in the Garden State. New Jersey is not alone; due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as changes in health insurance regulations in the U.S., there is concern for the health of small group insurance markets all across the country. Linda Schwimmer explores how the health of the small group market impacts self-funded employers, the rise of alternative employer-sponsored health plans known as level-funded insurance, and, finally, what the short and long-term policy solutions are for strengthening the small group market. Interestingly, regulations that prohibit the use of high-value purchasing strategies, like site of service-based payments, reference pricing, and preferred drug lists, may be negatively impacting the small group market. While this episode strays a bit from CPR’s focus in self-funded health care coverage, it provides important insights on the interconnectedness of the health insurance ecosystem at large. As Linda points out, when one insurance market is suffering, there are implications for the health system as a whole. For more information on this topic, read the Quality Institute’s July 2020 White Paper, “Short and Long-Term Strategies to Support Health Care Affordability and Price Transparency for Small Employers and Consumers in New Jersey. <a href="https://www.njhcqi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Short-and-Long-Term-Strategies-to-Support-Health-Care-Affordability-and-Price-Transparency-for-Small-Employers-and-Consumers-in-New-Jersey.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.njhcqi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Short-and-Long-Term-Strategies-to-Support-Health-Care-Affordability-and-Price-Transparency-for-Small-Employers-and-Consumers-in-New-Jersey.pdf</a>

Linda Schwimmer on the health of New Jersey’s small group insurance market

Our host, Emily George, spoke with Linda Schwimmer, President and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute. Linda is responsible for driving policies that advance health care safety, access and affordability. She is well-known for her commitment to drive lasting change that improves health care for every person in New Jersey.  In this podcast, Linda shares more about her work and experience with small group employers within the state of New Jersey. She discusses the steep decline in the small group market, drivers, implications, and ways in which to offer stability to curb the negative impact of these shifts.

Our host, Emily George, spoke with Linda Schwimmer, President and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute. Linda is responsible for driving policies that advance health care safety, access and affordability. She is well-known for her commitment to drive lasting change that improves health care for every person in New Jersey. In this podcast, Linda shares more about her work and experience with small group employers within the state of New Jersey. She discusses the steep decline in the small group market, drivers, implications, and ways in which to offer stability to curb the negative impact of these shifts.

Reimagining the Small Group Employer Market w/ Linda Schwimmer

Andréa Caballero dials up Linda Schwimmer, President and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, to hear about the challenges and successes of the health care marketplace in the Garden State, and find out which Scorecard 2.0 metric result is the one that our local sponsor is most excited to see! This is the first of a three-part series with the local sponsors of CPR’s Scorecard on Payment Reform pilot initiative.

Linda Schwimmer on New Jersey’s health landscape