Inside the Forum
Save the Date: All-Stakeholder Year-in-Review, Dec. 3
EFI members are invited for a very special All Stakeholder meeting on December 3rd for a private screening of The Tenderness Tour film. It’s a beautiful story of award-winning activist, Richard Propes, a cancer-survivor, double amputee with spina bifida, traveling through Indiana on a ‘Tenderness Tour,’ to raise awareness about the issues of the medical debt crisis in Indiana and the United States. Richard Propes traveled 150 miles across Indiana in 2024 for the Tenderness Tour raising over $100,000 to eliminate debt for Indiana families.
EFI member Jenni Nolan, who founded Clear Healthcare Advocacy, is featured in the film and will be joined by Andie Redwine, the film’s director.
If you are an EFI member and haven’t received a calendar invitation for the meeting please contact Sara Otte.
Recap: September 10th All-Stakeholder Meeting
What does it take for employers to get real value from our health care system? That question guided our discussions at our September All-Stakeholder Meeting, where we explored three critical areas shaping employer health care strategy: prescription drug affordability, fiduciary risk and responsibility, and partnering for value.
The key takeaway: employers have more leverage than they think.
By applying new laws, transparency tools, and fiduciary principles, you can drive real accountability and value. Future meetings will build on these insights, and new resources are being developed to help employers put them into practice.
Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to such thoughtful dialogue! Download the slides.
Watch & Share: Get to know Sage Transparency
Please watch and share our new video promoting Sage Transparency!
Understanding hospital prices and quality shouldn’t be complicated. That’s why we created Sage Transparency—a revolutionary, free, web-based tool that brings clarity to complex healthcare data. In this short video, we’ll walk you through the tool’s key features and show you how it supports informed, transparent decision-making for employers, legislators, and other healthcare stakeholders.
See what Sage Transparency can do for you.
You’ve explored the data—now share the impact. If Sage Transparency has helped you make informed decisions or spark change, we’d love to hear your story. Please complete our short feedback survey to let us know how you’re using Sage Transparency to move the needle on value and transparency.
Op-Ed from EFI Founder Dave Kelleher
A turning point in health care for employers and patients
Fueled by EFI’s data and advocacy, Indiana took bold steps to curb sky-high hospital prices and strengthen accountability. From banning hidden facility fees to requiring fair pricing and fiduciary oversight, these wins place Indiana at the forefront of national health care reform. Read the op-ed >
In the News
Employers
- Health care costs are soaring. Blame insurers, drug companies — and your employer (NPR)
- The Price Increases That Should Cause Americans More Alarm (KFF)
- Heartland Highlight: Longtime Hoosier activist tackles medical debt in new documentary (Indy Star)
- Beyond The Bill: The Hidden Economic Toll Of High Commercial Provider Prices (Health Affairs)
- A New Car vs. Health Insurance? Average Family Job-Based Coverage Hits $27K (KFF)
- GLP-1s, cancer care are driving higher employer health care costs in 2026 (STAT)
- Large employers forecast ‘daunting’ 9% hike in healthcare costs next year (Healthcare Dive)
- The ‘quiet alarm bell’ on U.S. health costs: Employers are backed into a corner, and workers are paying the price (Fortune)
- Employer health care expenses expected to soar next year (CFO)
- Medical debt tops $2 billion for Hoosiers. Experts say it’s likely higher (WFYI)
Policy
- Medicaid work requirements delayed until 2027 following federal action (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
- As Insurers Struggle With GLP-1 Drug Costs, Some Seek To Wean Patients Off (KFF)
- 340B rebate pilot tees up healthcare industry firestorm (Modern Healthcare)
- Consumer groups, debt collectors clash in medical debt hearing (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
Other healthcare:
- Braun on hospital costs: we can do better (WANE)
- How Indiana is driving down its hospital costs (Governing)
- Indiana’s nonprofit hospitals reported more than $1 billion in profits (Indy Star)
- Where private equity deals stand in 2025 (Modern Healthcare)
- When hospitals buy physician practices, prices go up (Indiana Capital Chronicle)
- Physician pay declines despite rising workloads: report (Modern Healthcare)
- Optum acquires 200-provider medical group (Becker’s)
- Urban hospitals increasingly poaching rural funds (Becker’s)
- Parkview Health to build $150M hospital in Lebanon (IBJ)
- Parkview Health plans $200M hospital, office building in West Lafayette (IBJ)
- UnitedHealth paid AARP $9B to sell Medicare products (AXIOS)
- Trump Demands That Drugmakers Lower Some of Their U.S. Prices by September (New York Times)
Do you have a suggestion or contribution for our next newsletter? Contact us.