D2E Health Plans assists employees, employers with quality and affordable health benefits

Thursday, November 3, 2022 ~ Updated 4:51 PM

Deke Lape, Rob Mitchell, Beth Johnson of D2E Health Plans

D2E Health Plans held its annual meeting at the Drury Plaza Hotel and Convention Center on Sept. 14.

Clients and guests heard from D2E founders Beth Johnson and Deke Lape as well as health care providers from Missouri Delta Medical Center, SoutheastHEALTH, St. Bernard’s of Paragould, Arkansas, and BJC Healthcare.

Coalition partners were in attendance to give firsthand reporting on the overall coalition performance and strategies for the upcoming year.

The group also received legislative updates and pharmacy savings reports from third-party administrator Consociate Health.

D2E Health Plans takes a unique approach to managing employer health plans.

Frustrated by the ongoing struggle to offer employers real solutions to rising health insurance cost, increasing deductibles and out-of-pocket costs for employees, Beth Johnson and Deke Lape set out to challenge to status quo and do things differently. With this in mind, D2E Health Plans was born.

“D2E” references the network of “direct to employer” contracts Johnson and Lape have built with providers across our region.

The network of providers reaches from St. Louis to Memphis, Tennessee, Northeast Arkansas, across to Little Rock, Arkansas into Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky and across Tennessee.

Some of the local providers include Missouri Delta Medical Center, Pemiscot Memorial Health System, SoutheastHEALTH, SEMO Health Network and several hundred independent physicians.

In the St. Louis area, providers are BJC Healthcare and Washington University Physicians, which includes 13 hospitals and more than 2,500 physicians.

To the South, D2E partners with St. Bernard’s SHARP network of 18 hospitals and more than 2,000 physicians.

In addition to the direct contracts, a national network is available for providers outside the D2E Network.

D2E is not a one-size-fits-all approach. Employers have the flexibility to design plan benefits and networks to meet their own specific goals.

D2E strives to align the incentives of all health care shareholders: employee, employer and provider. All play an important role in the success of an employer health plan, and each one must realize the benefits of the plan.

D2E providers recognize the need to improve access to quality affordable care in our communities and have agreed to highly discounted rates for D2E clients.

In exchange for favorable pricing, employers incentivize employees through lower out-of-pocket costs to choose D2E providers.

Since 2014, D2E has grown to include nearly 16,000 individual members who have benefited from a 60 to 70% reduction in their deductible and out-of-pocket costs for health care.

Employers have also challenged the status quo by improving the benefits for employees and their families while overall plan costs have remained flat or increased on average 1 to 2% over nearly a decade.

The D2E model is different. We ask our clients to think differently about their health plan. Our proactive approach is a win for employees, employers and health care providers.