Healthcare trends, employer impact, and the growing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Healthcare trends, employer impact, and the growing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Messiah Business Institute Network Gathering

Presented by Jeremy Wigginton, MD, MBA, FAAFP, Chief Medical Officer, Capital Blue Cross

Current healthcare trends are marked by rising medical utilization, growing rates of chronic illness, and rapidly escalating costs—posing major financial pressure on employers who fund most U.S. health coverage. Employers are seeing some of the steepest cost increases in over a decade and are responding by redesigning benefits, emphasizing preventive and high-value care, and tightening management of high-cost claims. At the same time, workforce challenges—staff shortages, administrative burdens, and rising employee expectations—are pushing both healthcare providers and employers to seek more efficient models of care. Against this backdrop, artificial intelligence is becoming a central tool: helping automate administrative work, support clinical decision-making, personalizing care, and guiding employees toward higher-value providers. While not a cure-all, AI offers employers a promising way to contain costs, improve workforce well-being and productivity, and deliver more effective, data-driven healthcare benefits.