Who We Are

The Healthcare Purchaser Alliance is a nonprofit, employer-led partnership of stakeholders working to improve healthcare affordability, quality, and access for Maine businesses and families. We focus on evidence-based approaches to solving the problems that vex our healthcare system.

What We Believe

Good healthcare policy must address the underlying drivers of high costs for employers and the families for whom they provide coverage. Policies which merely shift who is paying – like coverage mandates that shield some plan members from out-of-pocket costs by transferring those costs onto the employer and other plan members – are not sustainable. These shifted costs are ultimately borne by other plan members and their families in the form of higher premiums, copays, and deductibles.

Laws that require insurers to pay for additional services end up increasing costs for employers, government, and consumers. That’s because insurers are merely middlemen in the system and will pass the costs of any additional services onto employers and consumers. Making the cost of care more affordable requires policies that reduce the overall cost of health care, not policies that merely shift those costs around.

 As the primary funders of our healthcare system, employers broadly support policies which advance transparency and accountability within the healthcare system. They want to continue delivering access to high quality, affordable care to employees and their families, and to do this, they need state policies that address the underlying drivers of cost and ensure transparent, fair business practices across stakeholders.