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Enrolling in the right health plan can significantly influence healthcare costs and consumer health outcomes.
Despite significant healthcare spending, the United States has the worst health outcomes among high-income countries. In 2021, the US spent 17.8 percent of gross domestic product on healthcare, nearly twice as much as the average high-income country, a study from the Commonwealth Fund found.
Meanwhile, life expectancy at birth in the US was 77 years in 2020—three years lower than the average in other high-income nations. In addition, the US had significantly higher rates of avoidable deaths, obesity, and chronic conditions in 2020.
As the country grapples with high spending and poor health outcomes, high-performing provider networks are attempting to reconcile this imbalance. Health plans that leverage these networks have the most potential to provide members with high-quality, cost-effective healthcare experiences.
Low healthcare costs are not enough for a provider network to be considered high performing. A high-performance network must include providers who consistently deliver high-quality care at lower costs—two outcomes that align these networks with the industry’s ongoing shift to value-based care.