We’re deeply grateful to our dedicated members and the vibrant community that drives the Washington Health Alliance. Your unwavering support has been essential to our 2024 successes.

This past year, we delved into comprehensive reporting and convened top healthcare minds to address critical issues: rising costs and complex pharmacy benefits. Together, we’ve identified challenges and forged paths toward innovative solutions to improve healthcare quality and affordability in Washington State.

A New Look At Hospital Pricing

In May, the Alliance released its first-ever look at hospital pricing based on our voluntary All-Payer Claim Database.

We found hospital price levels for commercial insurance were anywhere from 150% to 500% more than Medicare rates.

This report was the catalyst for conversation and the start of even more work with all our stakeholders to better understand hospital pricing.

Read the full report.

Pharmacy Benefits to High-Cost Care

The Washington Health Alliance know it isn't enough to just report on the issues our health care system faces, we need to come together to find solutions.

We brought together leading health care experts from across Washington and the country to dive deeper into high-cost care to pharmacy benefits.

In May, we did a deep dive into pharmacy benefits from the role of PBMs to real-world examples on how to negotiate the right price.

In June, we pulled back the veil on high-cost care from hospital pricing to expensive therapies and the needed investment in primary care.

Groundbreaking Washington Drug Analysis

Washington State Pharmacy Association (WSPA) and Washington Health Alliance (WHA), in partnership with 3 Axis Advisors, released the results of a first-of-its-kind, which revealed that PBMs charge employers vastly different amounts for the same prescription medications, inflate drug prices at PBM-affiliated mail-order pharmacies, and have driven an increase in employer health care costs over the past four years.

Read the full report.

April 2 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Through collective action, we can ensure health care purchasers, health plans and health care providers are best equipped to drive substantial change in the market to improve quality, cost and equity of care.

Keynote speakers include Cora Opsahl, Health Fund Director at Building Services 32BJ Benefits Fund, and Ge Bai, PhD, CPA, Professor of Accounting at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and Professor of Health Policy & Management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

In-person attendance is strongly encouraged.

Get involved next year

The Washington Health Alliance invites you to partner with us for our 2025 educational forum, "Balancing the Value Equation in Healthcare."

The Alliance is considering panels touching on these topics and others:

• Value-based contracting (primary care, surgical, disease management)

• Outcomes-driven disease management programs

• Hospital fair pricing

• AI’s impact on employee benefits and health care

• Gap closure in disparate populations

• Pharmacy benefits  (fiduciary responsibilities – risk management; high-cost claims)

• Mental health (outcomes-based measurement; substance use disorder; going upstream to improve access)

Our members and supporters can be the best ambassadors for our work. If you know someone who would like to learn more about membership in the Alliance, contact Denise Giambalvo, Director of Member Engagement & Business Strategy, at dgiambalvo@wahealthalliance.org.