How are you answering renewal price questions?
Every plan sponsor is heading into renewal with the same question: is this a fair price? This month we're showing up in two places to help employers and brokers answer that with the data instead of a hunch. We’ve also just shared a recent deep dive into how Handl analyzes and normalizes price transparency data to make it usable for your network analysis and plan design.
See more details below, plus we’ve shared what's new on the blog and a welcome note from the newest member of the Handl team.
How confident are you in your healthcare pricing data?
Published price transparency files have come a long way in the past 5 years. From barely usable, limited data sets, we’ve moved closer to understanding the full picture thanks to increased compliance in releasing MRFs. However, compliance and usability are not the same thing. Some MRFs contain highly reliable negotiated rate data with strong coverage. Others are sparse, inconsistent and structurally difficult to interpret. In this guide, we share how Handl scores data from the MRFs and what that means for your network evaluations.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Two dates worth clearing your calendar for
Sept. 3: SIIA Price Transparency Committee Educational Webinar
Handl co-founder and Chief Product Officer Ria Shah joins a SIIA panel on "Navigating the new era of health plan strategy: regulation, data transparency & actionable innovation.” The conversation covers where price transparency regulation is headed, how employers are putting the data to work in plan design, and where AI actually helps (and where it doesn't). 12:00–1:00 PM ET. Register with SIIA
Sept. 9: Transparency in Coverage Data: Know Your Precise Numbers
Ria Shah and Justin Cross will walk you through how to use the federal Transparency in Coverage files to see your plan's real negotiated rates before you're deep into renewal. We'll cover what's actually in these carrier files, how to apply them to this year's numbers and where employer plans are headed as carriers push double-digit increases. This is an educational session, so please bring your questions. 9/9 at 12:00 PM ET.
IN THE NEWS
What’s top of mind for our team
Ria on the BUILDERS podcast
Ria talked with the BUILDERS podcast about how Handl found its footing with brokers and benefits consultants and why fear of the unknown, more than the data itself, is what keeps employers from acting on it. Listen to the episode
The next step for consumer price transparency
CMS's new consumer price transparency pledge pushes health tech companies to ship real-time cost tools fast. Employers won't see it directly, but they'll feel it through their vendors. Ahmed's take: don't let a flashy AI estimator substitute for a plan actually designed around upfront pricing. Read more
Can AI reduce costs and improve patient care?
AI can process price transparency files and claims data at a scale no team can match by hand, but our CTO, Scott Geye, argues it should sharpen human judgment, not replace it. Catch his view on where AI is already helping self-funded plans, and where the human connection still has to lead. Read more
FROM THE DESK OF JUSTIN CROSS
Putting the teacher hat back on
"We have more access to healthcare pricing data than I've ever seen during my entire career. If interpreted correctly, this information demystifies the true cost of healthcare."
I spent almost 20 years at Kelly Benefits, and the days I felt best about my work were the ones where I helped someone learn or grow. That's the job I'm taking on at Handl as SVP of Employer Solutions, and I'm glad to be here.
Here's what I keep coming back to: employers and brokers have more pricing data available to them right now than at any point in my career. The problem was never a lack of information. It's that machine-readable files are dense, inconsistent and genuinely hard to use without the right tools. That's the gap I'm here to help close, one plan at a time.
If you're heading into renewal and want a second set of eyes on what your data is actually telling you, I'd love to talk. Or come say hello at our Sept. 9 webinar, where I'll be walking through exactly that.
I’m glad to be here and excited to work with you!
— Justin Cross, SVP of Employer Solutions