By Peter Guzman

The Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce was proud to host a recent community discussion about how the health-care system is addressing the health needs of our growing Latino community. The insights shared by speakers and attendees were impressive. Simply put, health plans in the employer-based market are doing more today than ever to help ensure every member can access and maximally benefit from medical care.

One of the big things we talked about was how health plans are addressing chronic disease, which kills more Nevadans than all other causes of death combined. Latinos face particular challenges in accessing care to avoid and treat these conditions, and it has experts concerned that their mortality and morbidity rates could rise.

This is part of the larger challenge of redirecting limited health-care dollars to have the greatest impact. Today, more than 80 percent of health-care spending goes to treat chronic conditions after they are diagnosed. For Nevada, the total cost is currently over $20 billion and expected to exceed $45 billion by 2023. These diseases are largely avoidable, but historically, only a sliver of our health-care budget has gone toward prevention—about $4 per person per year.

That’s why health plans have gotten serious about preventative care, driven in part by reforms that now incentivize them to preserve wellness, not just treat disease. Care coordination is a significant part of their efforts. This service invokes the human touch to connect patients, many of them underserved and/or Spanish-speaking, with primary care, disease management, specialist appointments, and even governmental and non-profit programs if warranted.

This helps reduce reliance on the emergency room as the de facto choice for health care while increasing use of check-ups, health screenings, and other preventative services.

Complementing such high-touch outreach is the modernization of the health care-industry, which is making it easier for employees to manage their health as they do their finances or other important aspects of their lives. For example, many Nevada health plans offer members the ability to order prescription refills 24/7, and various online platforms from insurers provide advice on issues ranging from rashes to nutrition to anxiety.

Additionally, mobile technologies, app-based reminders and education, patient trackers, and nurse helplines are expanding care beyond the usual clinic setting. These services help patients understand any chronic conditions or risk factors they face, learn how to manage them, and get answers to questions as they arise.

Patients are pleased because health care has become more convenient and accessible. Many times, they don’t even have to take time off work to go to a doctor, which can be especially difficult for hourly employees.

Employers are happy as well. At the Chamber event, small business owners were quick to highlight the positive impacts of health-care changes on their own companies. Numerous attendees underscored the value of private health coverage for recruiting top talent, retaining employees, and maximizing productivity. The increased access to preventative care—with a wealth of services now available to patients for free—was highlighted repeatedly. Local businesses recognize the role of wellness care in maintaining a healthy workforce, and they’re glad to have private health plans as partners.

Insurers are also assisting with more integrated offerings. When health plans, dental and vision coverage, and life and disability insurance work together, they can promote better health outcomes and lower the total cost, while making benefits management less of a hassle to boot.

Finally, local businesses are encouraged by the shift toward value-based payments, where health-care providers are reimbursed based on the health outcomes they deliver, not just the volume of tests, surgeries, and treatments they order. This approach makes a lot of sense to small business owners, who themselves have to earn every dollar by supplying great products and services.

Powered by some of the same technologies companies are leveraging to understand their customer base, such as machine learning, the value-based health-care model can be especially impactful. One collaboration active in Nevada resulted in algorithms to predict the risk of a patient with diabetes—a disease 1.6 times as prevalent among Hispanics —to have complications leading to unplanned medical visits and hospitalization. With such insights, health plans are positioned to explore interventions to lower these risks and the associated expenses, in other words to deliver value.

Advances within the employer-based market are rippling through the health-care market. Applied to government-sponsored programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, they will help trim future state and federal spending as well. Businesses concerned about the long-term tax picture are heartened by the prospects for bending the cost curve downward.

It’s been a few years since Nevada’s health insurance market introduced incentives to promote wellness and drive innovations tailored to the specific health needs of the state’s Latino population and our business community. These initiatives are working, and everyone should look forward to building on the work we’re undertaking to make Nevada healthier.

Peter Guzman is president & CEO of the Las Vegas Latin Chamber of Commerce.