Specialty Care Platform Lantern Offers Cancer Care, Surgery Care, and Infusion Care to Government Employees, Public Educators across the Country
Dallas – December 5, 2024 — Lantern, the specialty care platform formerly known as Employer Direct Healthcare, is expanding its efforts to support public sector employees across the country, building on its existing strong partnerships with more than 50 state and local governments and school districts across the country. The company has added veteran public sector healthcare leader Bari Michalski as Senior Vice President of Public Sector to lead the effort.
“Public employees make up a significant portion of the U.S. workforce and currently represent 20 percent of Lantern’s client base. From federal and state governments, City Halls to public educators, we’re ready to facilitate more access to high-quality care for public employees who serve our communities every day,” said Michalski. “At Lantern, we’re working to ensure that their employers – public institutions and constituents’ tax dollars – are seeing positive financial impacts as well.”
Before Lantern, Bari was the Vice President of Public Sector Sales at Rx Savings Solutions, a pharmacy transparency solution. In addition, Bari has served as the Vice President of Sales and then National Public and Multiemployer Practice Lead at Healthcare Bluebook.
With the cost of care rising, private and public employers are working to ensure employees retain access to high-quality care while managing efforts to reduce overall costs. Now, Lantern is expanding its push into the public sector to bring the affordable, quality specialty care it is known for to the over 20 million public employees in the United States.
Lantern’s high-quality, conveniently accessible specialty care has demonstrated value among private and public sector employers for balancing care quality with cost management. As a result of direct contracting and an accelerated reimbursement model, Lantern pays rates that are approximately 110-130 percent of Medicare prices, guaranteeing the best rates for the best care. In 2023, this translated into average savings of $4,000 for members and average per-member savings of $17,000, alongside a roughly 2 percent total spend reduction, for organizations.
“Lantern’s mission has long been to bring the best specialty health care to America’s best workforces. The momentum we’re seeing in the public sector is a natural extension of that goal,” said John Zutter, CEO of Lantern. “As a result, we’ve added a new dimension to our focus: ensuring the employees who serve the public are likewise being served with the best care.”
Lantern’s public sector offerings encompass the full slate of private sector offerings – including Surgery Care, Cancer Care, and the recently added Infusion Care – which facilitate affordable, accessible specialty care from Lantern’s top-performing network of excellence. Patients are supported throughout their care journeys by the company’s dedicated Care Advocates, who provide white glove support navigating the complexities of the health care system and assist with care coordination.
Lantern’s nationwide network of specialists is five times more accessible than any other and serves more than six million members across hundreds of employers and health plans, including more than 50 public sector organizations. In addition to supporting every kind of cancer diagnosis, Lantern facilitates thousands of procedures; recently, the company partnered with top providers across the country to enter the fast-growing infusion care market, providing access to affordable, high-quality infusion therapy.
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About Lantern
Lantern is the specialty care platform connecting people with the best care when they need it most. By curating a Network of Excellence comprised of the nation’s top specialists for surgery, cancer care, infusions and more, Lantern delivers excellent care with significant cost savings to employers and their workforces. Lantern also pairs members with a dedicated care team, including Care Advocates and nurses, for the entirety of their care journey, helping them get back to good health, back to their families and back to work. With convenient access to specialists nationwide, Lantern means quality care is within driving distance for most. Lantern is trusted by the nation’s largest employers to deliver care to more than 6 million members across the country. Learn more about us at lanterncare.com.
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