ICER was founded in 2006, and we celebrated our 15th anniversary in 2021. To mark that occasion, we put together a document celebrating ICER’s demonstrable impact. We also want to acknowledge the work of our staff and all the external stakeholders – patient advocates, clinicians, manufacturers, payers, health policy experts, and more — that have enabled ICER to create meaningful change in our healthcare system.
Many said the goals of ICER were too difficult to achieve. More than a few said ICER would never work, and some even actively organized against our efforts. However, today, we can acknowledge the outsized impact a 40-person, $10 million organization made to meet the greater demands of a U.S. health system increasingly reliant on measures of evidence-based value. As Congress, state legislatures, private and public payers debate policy solutions to escalating costs, calling for transparent evidence to justify high prices, ICER’s reports and recommendations are increasingly seen as the evidence-based gold standard on which to build a system of value-based health care.
There’s still work to do, and we depend on your continued support. We are poised to continue our leadership in the fight for evidence and transparency in the American healthcare system. As we grow, we are hoping to substantially expand our community of researchers, economists, and stakeholder liaisons. We will expand the work we do analyzing the fairness of payer coverage policies. We will support our nation’s small and large businesses to deliver better, more affordable health care to their employees. And we will continue to be a guide to our nation’s state and federal leaders who are pushing for a more sane health care system, all in service to our goal to make sure patients get access to the care they need at a cost they and the health care system can afford.