Why Healthcare Costs Keep Rising — and What Employers Can Do About It

In this season two finale of Talk HR, Harrison Newman and Samantha DiMercurio tackle one of the biggest challenges facing employers today: the rising cost of healthcare. Despite years of cost-shifting, plan redesigns, and annual renewals, employers continue to face increasing expenses while employees experience higher deductibles, reduced affordability, and growing frustration. Joining the conversation is Ashok Subramanian, CEO and Co-Founder of Centivo, who shares why traditional approaches to healthcare cost management often fall short and what employers can do differently. Ashok explains how healthcare pricing lacks transparency, why quality and cost are often disconnected, and how employers can rethink benefits strategies to create better outcomes for both their organizations and their employees. The discussion explores the role of primary care-centered healthcare models, direct provider partnerships, and employee choice in reducing costs without sacrificing quality. Ashok also shares practical advice for HR leaders navigating benefits decisions, including why choosing the right benefits advisor may be one of the most important decisions an organization can make. Whether you're responsible for benefits, total rewards, finance, or employee experience, this episode offers valuable insights into the future of employer-sponsored healthcare and strategies for creating more sustainable health plans. Key Moments (00:46) Why healthcare costs continue to rise despite years of cost-control efforts (02:00) Ashok Subramanian’s background and the founding of Centivo (02:27) Why the current healthcare system isn't working for employers or employees (05:18) How Centivo approaches healthcare affordability differently (08:52) The rise of primary care-centered and high-performance network models (11:02) Educating employees about healthcare costs and quality differences (14:20) Why shifting costs to employees doesn't solve the problem (16:20) The limitations of healthcare consumerism and price transparency tools (17:21) How transparency data is changing healthcare purchasing decisions (21:00) The importance of choosing the right benefits advisor (24:31) What employers can realistically expect in healthcare savings (26:57) How to learn more about Centivo and alternative healthcare strategies