More than 200,000 health fund participants will now have access to Lantern’s network of excellence
DALLAS, November 14, 2024 — Lantern, a specialty care platform connecting people with the best care when they need it most, today announced its new surgery network partnership with the 32BJ Health Fund, which provides comprehensive benefits to the members and families of SEIU 32BJ. Members of 32BJ, the largest property service workers union in the country, will have access to Lantern’s network of high-quality surgeons and specialists at little to no cost to them beginning in January 2025
“We are committed to ensuring our members have easy access to high-quality, affordable care with no premium sharing,” said Cora Opsahl, Director of the 32BJ Health Fund, “and we are confident that our partnership with Lantern and their network of top doctors will provide expert care and personalized attention for our members.”
The 32BJ Health Fund is a self-insured, Taft-Hartley benefit fund that approaches health coverage differently than traditional health plans. By aggregating employer contributions from 5,000 employers, ranging from many small businesses to global real estate firms, the Health Fund uses these contributions to provide benefits to more than 200,000 people more cost effectively than what most employers offer, on average.
SEIU 32BJ union members are cleaners, property maintenance workers, doorpersons, security officers, window cleaners, building engineers, school and food service workers, and airport workers in multiple, primarily East Coast states and Washington, DC.
“32BJ represents critical members of our communities who literally keep the country up and running, and the Health Fund has long been a benefits innovator, working hard to find affordable, quality solutions for their members’ health needs,” said Dickon Waterfield, President of Lantern. “We’re pleased to be able to support this essential workforce by connecting these union members with our network of top specialists across the country.”
This announcement comes on the heels of Lantern’s recent partnership with another labor group, the National Railroad Health and Welfare Plan, which includes more than 300,000 union members and their dependents from the nation’s six Class I freight railroads and many smaller freight and passenger lines.
Formerly known as Employer Direct Healthcare, Lantern offers members a network that includes facilities and health care providers in the top 75 markets, meaning 98 percent of members are within driving distance of their appointments. Since 2011, Lantern has supported more than 60,000 surgical journeys, including 40,000 in the last two years alone, significantly reducing members’ financial burdens by an average of $4,000. Lantern offers $17,000 average per-member savings for its employer clients and a roughly 2 percent total spend reduction. Last month, alongside its rebrand, Lantern announced the expansion of its medical advisory board and clinical teams and introduced its newest service offering: Infusion Care.
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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.
About the 32BJ Health Fund
The 32BJ Health Fund, a unique collaboration between labor and management, provides innovative quality and affordable health benefits to more than 210,000 working-class people—doormen and women, office cleaners, security guards and other property service workers in New York and many other states on the East Coast, as well as in Washington, DC—on behalf of more than 5,000 employers. Learn more at www.32bjhealthinsights.org.
