Who We Are

Rhode Island Business Group on Health (RIBGH) is a nonprofit association with seventy-five corporate members. As the leading voice of business on healthcare in RI, we promote and advocate on behalf of our membership for affordable, efficient, and high-quality health and wellbeing benefits, policies and programs.

Mission

The mission of the RIBGH is to promote educational, legislative, and collaborative solutions to ensure Rhode Island-based employers and their employees have access to affordable, efficient, and high-quality healthcare delivery system, as well as wellbeing tools and resources to manage productivity and contain costs.

Advocacy

RIBGH advocates for policy and legislation that promotes quality and affordable healthcare in Rhode Island. We proactively monitor and influence policy and legislation that affects the quality and affordability of employer-provided healthcare. We maintain contact with, and participate in committees with key healthcare decision makers such as the State's Health Insurance Commissioner, the Rhode Island Department of Health, the Rhode Island General Assembly, health plans, providers and brokers. We serve as the voice of business on matters of healthcare policy and legislation, ensuring that the interests of the largest purchasers of health and wellness services — employers — are represented.

Collaboration

RIBGH collaborates with local and nationally recognized health and wellbeing experts to provide access to affordable healthcare solutions for employers and their employees. We work in close collaboration with legislators, regulators, brokers, insurers and providers. We engage in meaningful conversations with member employers and related healthcare decision makers to share best practices for promoting health and wellness, reducing healthcare costs, and to efficiently optimize the healthcare delivery system.

Education

RIBGH educates members on factors impacting healthcare plan design and costs. We provide educational tools and resources to help improve employee wellbeing and productivity, while managing affordability. RIBGH has been at the forefront of promoting adoption of Choosing Wisely - a program to provide employees free-of-charge access to online tools and resources to enable productive conversations between patients and their doctors. We have merged with the Worksite Wellness Council of Rhode Island and are also affiliated with the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, which allows us to pass on tools and resources to our members.

History

RIBGH was incorporated in the 1980’s, when healthcare costs began to exceed consumers’ ability to pay. In 2010, RIBGH merged with the Worksite Wellness Council of Rhode Island and joined the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. This allowed the RIBGH to expand the scope of the mission to include educating members and sharing best practices on building and sustaining healthy, productive workforces.