William Grant, Chief Financial Officer at Cummings Properties LLC in Woburn, will chair a newly reorganized AIM Health Cost and Policy Committee intended to put employers on the front lines of the campaign to control health-care costs.

The committee will establish a working relationship among employers, insurers, hospitals and doctors to address the spiraling cost of health insurance that has inhibited economic growth in Massachusetts for a decade. The committee will be the only one of its kind, allowing business people and health care experts to collaborate on issues ranging from wellness to emergency care usage.

“The committee is open to small, medium and large companies, manufacturers, retailers, technology companies, and service companies ” any employer concerned about providing high-quality health coverage to employees. The health-care crisis will be solved only if employers engage with organizations like AIM to find solutions,” said Grant, who spearheaded innovative health plan changes at Cummings two years ago.

The committee will hold its inaugural meeting on November 8 from 7:30-9 a.m. at 800 West Cummings Park, Suite 4750, Woburn. The agenda includes a review of the new committee’s objectives and a presentation of employer responsibilities under federal health care reform by Kate Nordahl, Director of the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.

The committee will meet approximately three to four times per year both inside and outside of Boston. Members will receive early and regular notification of health-cost developments, pending legislation, regulations, industry trends and best practices.

Kristen Lepore, Vice President of Government Affairs at AIM, will provide staff support for the committee.

Grant expects the committee to tackle topics such as:

• Reconciling the federal Affordable Care Act with Massachusetts health care reform.
• Implementing the recently passed health care cost control law.
• Developing strategies to educate employers and employees about health care costs and services.
• Emergency care usage and the effects on health care costs.  How can employers help to reduce emergency room usage?
• Chronic disease management and the effects on health care costs.  How can the hospital, physician, insurance communities collaborate with employers to provide employees with the best resources preventing and coping with chronic disease?

Grant, a member of the AIM Board of Directors, grew up in Chelmsford and earned his undergraduate and Master’s degrees in accounting from Bentley University. He attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University and joined Cummings in 1998 after holding senior financial management positions at Tweeter and Rich’s department stores.

Cummings Properties operates more than 9 million square feet of its own primarily commercial space in 10 metropolitan Boston communities. The company was among the first in Massachusetts to provide employees with the tools to shop for high-quality, efficient medical providers.

“Bill Grant knows the hard work necessary for employers to gain control over health insurance costs. We hope his experience, intelligence and collaborative demeanor will encourage AIM members both large and small to participate in the health committee,” said Richard C. Lord, President and Chief Executive Officer of AIM.

Lord also thanked Kathleen Reinhardt and Analog Devices of Norwood for having hosted the Health Care Committee for the past 15 years.

Members interested in joining the Health Cost and Policy Committee should contact Lepore at 617.262.1180 or klepore@aimnet.org