Consumer Driven Health Care

Regulation of prices for payers (setting or capping prices) could reduce hospital spending by $61.9 billion to $236.6 billion per year.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis's initial estimates show a 2% decline over 2019, or about $75.8 billion.

Despite advances in the past year, more work remains, including in the areas of personalized care plans, improved outcomes and cost containment.

The settlement, six years in the making, will create "really significant new rules of the road for health systems."

While much of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 addresses issues directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the law also contains many sections covering other health policy issues.

However, the decision to adjust these employee benefit programs is still at the discretion of the employer that sponsors the plan.