New national scenario planning model addresses a margin forecasting problem exacerbated by health plans’ use of AI, utilization shifts from an aging population, rapid GLP-1 adoption, digital consumer alternatives, relentless cost growth, and structural workforce change, among other forces. WVU Medicine’s Chief Strategy Officer to join Union for October 8 webinar.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Union Healthcare Insight (“Union”), a leading strategic insight firm, today announced the Future of Margins Initiative, a comprehensive national scenario planning model and strategic research suite, built for health system executives facing unprecedented changes to healthcare demand and cost structures.

Health system operating margins face relentless pressure in the years ahead. While most systems have experience modeling traditional financial pressures, like unfavorable cost and reimbursement trends, few have trustworthy insight to plan for market forces with less historical precedent. Alongside already challenged economics, health systems must plan for:

• Unprecedented utilization shifts by aging populations
• Increasing use of AI by health plans 
• Structural changes to the healthcare workforce 
• Rapid GLP-1 adoption
• Novel digital consumer options for care

Without reliable inputs and adaptable modeling, finance and planning teams risk developing under-informed strategic plans and budgets for the future.

Union’s Future of Margins Initiative is a comprehensive research and forecasting program designed to model and anticipate these impacts. Rather than producing a single forecast, it lets health system leaders test their existing forecast against a range of plausible futures and toggle variables based on local conditions. A sensitivity analysis also lets leaders see how specific changes could impact their performance. Built as a feature of Union’s research membership, the program also lets health systems compare results through benchmarking and peer organization networking and access actionable research into strategies to achieve sustainable margins.

“Every health system leader has a budget for next year and a strategy for the next five, but too few have a good way to connect the two, or a way to see how all the forces impacting their enterprise interact and change over time,” said Christopher Kerns, CEO of Union Healthcare Insight. “Our job is to give leaders an objective and comprehensive view of what lies ahead, including the parts that are uncomfortable. The Future of Margins model is built so they can plan for the futures that are actually plausible instead of betting on one forecast—and then plot a realistic path forward.”

Union will introduce the model and early findings from its proprietary Future of Margins research in a live webinar on Thursday, October 8 at 1 p.m. ET and will be joined by Union member, Ben Gerber, Chief Strategy Officer of WVU Medicine. The session is designed for health system executives and partners interested in helping health systems improve margin performance. Registration is open at: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/webinars/the-margin-crisis-reshaping-health-systems-wvu-medicines-chief-strategy-officer-weighs-in/?source=union-healthcare-insight

About Union Healthcare Insight

Union Healthcare Insight is a strategic healthcare insights company that provides reliable, holistic guidance and analysis to executives across all sectors. Founded by the former leaders of the Advisory Board Company’s Research division, Union brings a modernized, independent viewpoint and proprietary research approach to healthcare’s most pressing strategic questions. The company serves executives across every sector of healthcare with strategic research, presentations, education and training, and custom research and advisory services.

Media Contact:
Contact
Tyler Ford, Senior Vice President
Union Healthcare Insight
Info@UnionHealthcareInsight.com 

About Union Healthcare Insight

Union Healthcare Insight is a strategic healthcare insights company that provides reliable, holistic guidance and analysis to executives across the health system, health plan, life sciences, and services sectors. Founded by the former leaders of the Advisory Board Company’s Research division, Union brings a modernized, independent viewpoint and research approach to healthcare’s most pressing strategic questions. The company serves executives across every sector of healthcare with strategic research, presentations, training, and custom research and advisory services.

For more information on Union, please visit: www.unionhealthcareinsight.com or email Info@UnionHealthcareInsight.com 

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SOURCE Union Healthcare Insight