Lehigh Valley Business Coalition on Health Care

Who Are We?

For three decades, the Lehigh Valley Business Coalition on Health Care has been serving the needs of employers by leading the way in the development of affordable, cost-effective employee benefits.

It all began in 1980, when a few forward-looking business leaders met to discuss the actions they could take to address the rapidly rising cost of medical care and the impact it was having on their ability to provide their employees with affordable medical benefits.

Working with a select group of partner-vendors, the Coalition developed the first self-funded, employer-designed product called "Community Choice" a Point-of-Service plan that included medical, dental, prescription, vision and behavioral health services. Our current partner-vendors, including Aetna, Highmark Blue Shield, National Vision Administrators, Integrated Behavioral Health, United Concordia Companies Inc, and Medco Health Solutions, continue to build on the success of those early efforts.

Buoyed by the success of the self-insured plans, the Coalition then turned its attention to addressing the needs of small to medium-size employers. A partnership was forged with HealthAmerica and Valley Preferred to design and offer fully insured medical plans for the small employer market. As an added benefit, small employers also have access to the Coalition's existing dental and vision plans.

Another exciting Coalition initiative is our developing relationship with the broker community. We recognize that brokers play an important role in assisting employers in selecting medical benefits and providing other services. We're letting brokers know that they as well as their clients benefit when they choose the ASO and insured products offered by our partner-vendors. Through these efforts, the Coalition creates a "win-win-win" situation--a win for our brokers, employers and the Coalition.

While the cost of medical benefits is certainly a major focus of the Coalition, it has not overlooked the importance of quality care. To address this issue, the Coalition established the "Quality Initiatives Committee" that works closely with providers to improve the quality of care by encouraging them to adhere to national performance and reporting standards. The Coalition also values its participation on the Pennsylvania Healthcare Cost Containment Council and supports the work of the Council in providing quality data reports to employers and the public alike.

From these humble beginnings, came the Lehigh Valley Business Coalition on Health Care one of the premier medical benefits purchasing alliances in the nation.

We recognize and acknowledge Highmark Blue Shield for its generous support in making possible the redesign and construction of the LVBCHC website. Their assistance in this project has resulted in a professional appearing and easy to navigate site. We thank Highmark for its continued support of the Lehigh Valley Business Coalition on Health Care.