Bloomberg: Greg Wasson joins thought leaders to discuss the state of health care in the United States

CHICAGO — At Bloomberg's The Year Ahead: 2014 conference at the Art Institute of Chicago on Thursday, Walgreens president and CEO Greg Wasson joined a group of health care thought leaders to discuss the state of healthcare in the United States. 

Wasson suggested large employers, or at least Walgreens, will continue to provide high-quality benefits in an effort to attract high-quality employees on one hand and to lower healthcare costs for both Walgreens and its employees on the other. "One of the things we just did … we actually went out into the competitive marketplace and worked with a private exchange," he said. "The competitive marketplace is a good place to be. It also increased the options for our employees — they had two health plan options a year ago; now they have 25."

Led by Bloomberg View columnist Lanhee Chen, Wasson was flanked by former U.S. Senate majority leader William Frist, Mayo Clinic CEO John Noseworthy, Boston Consulting Group partner Michael Ringel, John Hopkins Medicine CEO Paul Rothman, and Thompson Holdings CEO Tommy Thompson.