What factors are making medical inflation more persistent, and how should employers and health plans adjust their long-term strategies as a result?

What we’re seeing right now isn’t a short-term spike, it’s structural within the system.

Medical inflation is being driven by a combination of forces that reinforce each other. In the US especially, provider consolidation and private equity ownership have given hospitals and specialist groups more pricing power. Add to that rising labour costs, higher pharmaceutical spend, especially with specialty drugs, and increasingly complex care pathways, and you end up with inflation that doesn’t naturally correct itself.

For international employers and health plans, the key adjustment is moving away from reactive cost control. Long-term strategies need to focus on early engagement, clinical oversight, and care navigation before costs escalate. That means embedding cost management into the care journey itself, not just negotiating bills after the fact.

What are the biggest shifts you’re seeing in what members expect?

Members expect healthcare to work the way everything else in their lives works – with access to information at their fingertips.

Three years ago, access alone might have been enough for expats or travellers. Today, members expect speed, clarity, and a supportive customer experience, no matter where they are.

We’re also seeing much higher expectations around communication. Members don’t want to repeat their story five times. They want coordinated care, proactive updates, and someone who understands both the clinical and cultural context they’re navigating.

What does a truly personalised member experience look like, and where do organisations fall short?

It means understanding the individual behind the claim. Where are they located? What language do they speak? Is this an acute event? What is the exact need in the moment?

Organisations fall short in trying to automate personalisation without clinical or human oversight. Algorithms are helpful, but they can’t replace judgement. Real personalisation requires flexibility, empowered, expert teams, and the ability to adjust decisions in real time as a case evolves.

We just did a case study that was in your February International Hospitals & Healthcare (IH&H), that gives a great example of a student discharged with an inaccurate pharmacy prescription that could have been detrimental to them. Our care navigators and pharmacists made several calls and worked diligently to ensure the patient was able to get the needed specialty medication at the right pharmacy. We offer a lot of case studies on our website. I encourage people to go to newfrontiergroup.com/insights for more specific examples of personalisation.

How can employers and health plans invest in more personalised experiences without exacerbating the very cost pressures they’re trying to manage?

It’s a common concern but in reality, personalisation done correctly reduces costs rather than increases them.

When care is tailored early, you avoid unnecessary utilisation later. Guiding a member to the right provider, supporting second opinions, or using telehealth strategically can prevent ER visits, hospital admissions, or inappropriate procedures. Those are high-cost events that can come from a lack of guidance. We offer member travel guides for our clients to share with their members who are travelling to and from the US. These guides have government and clinical resources that members can use to educate themselves.

When personalisation is intentional and integrated into cost management strategies, it creates predictability. You get better outcomes, fewer surprises, and ultimately more sustainable cost control.

What’s the biggest mindset shift employers and insurers need to make right now?

They need to stop viewing cost management as something that happens after care and as separate from the care journey. When end-to-end cost management and member experience are designed together, both improve. And that’s where we’re seeing the most success, when organisations treat cost control not as a restriction, but as a tool to deliver smarter, more human healthcare.

Cost control is important, but it should be part of the care journey itself, not separate from it. When decisions are made with the member at the centre, cost management becomes a support rather than a barrier. A strong member experience leads to better outcomes, fewer unnecessary interventions, and ultimately more sustainable costs.

The organisations that get this right are the ones that understand that putting the member first isn’t in conflict with cost control, it’s what makes cost management effective in the first place.