Newly Formed Alliance Aims To Cap Rising Health Care Costs
By Lynne Adkins
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A South Jersey insurance company has entered into agreement with six health systems to keep a lid on rising costs.
The Omnia Health Alliance was formed by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey to control skyrocketing health care costs and discrepancies in care directing patients to specific providers. Robert Field, Professor of Law and Public Health at Drexel University, says this is the wave of the future.
"One of the big goals of these alliances is to keep track of patients and their care so that everyone that you see knows what everyone else has been doing and what test results they have on you," Field says, "but there is a down side which is the chance of overly aggressive efforts to control costs."
He says insurance companies work out deals with the providers and those with the best discounts are often included in the alliances.