There is a better way to purchase health benefits
Every year, your health plan costs more. Every year, the explanation sounds the same. And every year, your employees pay more and get less.
It doesn't have to be this way. But changing the outcome requires something most employers have never been given: an honest account of what is actually happening inside the plans they sponsor — and a clear-eyed path toward something better.
Active Health Purchasing delivers both. Drawing on nearly two decades of employer coalition strategy and healthcare purchasing experience, Bret Jackson examines every major force shaping employer-sponsored healthcare — provider consolidation, pharmacy benefit management, broker and consultant incentives, fiduciary responsibility, quality accountability, and the untapped power of collective employer action — and shows what disciplined, intentional purchasing actually looks like in practice.
This is not a book about managing trend. It is a book about refusing to accept it. You don't have to solve everything at once. You just have to start somewhere.
It's time for a change
Understand the Market
Learn to identify hidden fees and misaligned incentives that drive up your corporate premiums without adding any medical value.
Improve Outcomes for Your People
Move beyond basic insurance to a model that prioritizes member health outcomes, ensuring your employees actually get better care.
Practical Suggestions
Forget academic theory; get actionable steps and real-world tools that HR teams and CFOs can implement during the next renewal cycle.
Meet the Author
Bret J. Jackson is President & CEO of the Economic Alliance for Michigan (EAM), where he has spent nearly two decades driving health policy advocacy and coalition leadership on behalf of Michigan's healthcare purchaser community. Under his leadership, EAM has grown in membership and purpose, and launched nationally recognized initiatives in oncology, maternal health, and women's workplace wellbeing. A skilled bridge-builder across business, labor, and government, Bret has influenced state and federal policy on issues ranging from surprise medical billing to healthcare transparency.
Beyond healthcare, Bret is passionate about playing and growing the sport of curling. Bret served as Chair of the Board of Directors of USA Curling, where he led a strategic transformation of the organization's membership and performance model. He previously chaired the Board of Governors of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. Earlier in his career, he held policy and legislative roles in the Michigan State Senate.
A proud Spartan, Bret holds a B.A. in International Relations from Michigan State University. When he isn’t working or curling, he is spending time with his two kids, who he adores.
The Case for Making a Change
Healthcare isn’t a market — and pretending it is costs you.
Understand why traditional market rules don't apply to medical costs.
You are financing a system shaped by others' incentives.
See how your budget fuels a machine designed to serve vendors.
No employer can fix this alone, but together we can.
Learn how collective action forces the market to accept new terms.
You don't have to solve everything — you just have to start.
Stop the overwhelm by identifying the first step toward change.
What the experts think...
Bret Jackson has done an exceptional job of bringing together decades of purchaser experience into a clearer understanding of both the system we are struggling with and its underlying causes. Just as importantly, he shows employers where and how they can make a difference.
The result is a compelling and practical path toward a more rational and aligned system that delivers better health, better care and better value for employees and their families.
Michael Thompson
Former CEO, National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions
“Active Health Purchasing” provides a true guide for employers and benefits leaders who want and need to better understand how healthcare works, the forces influencing healthcare purchasing and delivery, and the strategies available to employers.
It provides practical information and steps for employers to consider as they navigate an incredibly complex healthcare environment.
It is an excellent roadmap for employers and benefits leaders who are ready to better understand the system and consider new strategies for changing the way healthcare is purchased and delivered.
Rosa Novo
Administrative Benefits Director
Miami - Dade County Public Schools
Bret Jackson’s employer guide, Active Health Purchasing, is a thoughtful and urgent appeal to health benefits leaders. Building on his work with employers to improve value and tackle intransigent health care costs, Bret delivers a smart, thorough dissection of the healthcare market’s complexity and opportunity. Bret’s passionate challenge inspires health care purchasing leaders to act.
Laurie Lee
Executive Director, Benefits Administration, State of Tennessee
This should be required reading for every benefits leader frustrated about their health costs. Bret Jackson is one of the country’s most respected health benefits experts, and his book demystifies the needlessly complicated and opaque financing schemes that inflate costs in health care. Purchasers and employers who follow this advice will truly have a fighting chance of making health care more affordable for their employees.
Leah Binder
President and CEO, The Leapfrog Group