Are Employers Picking Affordable Healthcare Benefits?

Regardless of your employer or health plan, health care in America has never been more affordable. Americans have a national medical debt of nearly $200 billion, and care isn't getting any cheaper.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, while more than 90% of the American population has some form of health insurance, 41% of adults have medical debt. Additionally, the average cost of employee health care for employers will rise 6.5 percent to more than $13,800 by 2023, according to professional services firm Aon.

Where does that leave employers providing half of the health insurance for the American people? While some employers may be in a financial position to pay more for their employees' premiums, others may not be able to afford the additional costs, which may result in employees delaying or not seeking care because they cannot afford it. For a family of four earning less than 200% of the federal poverty level of $60,000 a year, management consulting firm McKinsey estimates that health care costs can absorb 75% of mandatory income.

Read more: Why Disney is moving to a value-based care model for 77,000 Florida employees

In a year that started with tough cuts and rate hikes, utility leaders have a tough road ahead. But if employers want a healthy and productive workforce, they need to rethink their benefits decisions and ensure that all employees are taking advantage of today's economic climate.

A new study by Employee Benefit News parent company Aricent shows where employers and employees are looking at health benefits and where employers are missing the mark.

No health plan is perfect
Most employers believe that 70% of their company's benefits options offer the best possible benefits to their employees, not the highest, not the lowest. However, 68% of these employers believe that facility design is ultimately limited by budget. In other words, even if employers generally believe they are doing their best to obtain benefits, they are still financially constrained to provide more.

Read more: Prices will continue to rise: McKinsey's health forecast to 2026

But that doesn't stop leaders from trying to innovate; 53% believe that their facilities are more innovative than traditional ones. In particular, companies that identify as more innovative are likely to bring more healthcare benefits, with over 80% having digital health tools for health navigation, fitness tracking, chronic pain management and general healthcare. 70% have marriage privileges.

Whether the employer reinvents itself or not, most can agree on the importance of reviewing your benefits annually. Only 15% agreed that it easily passed last year's bonus election. The bigger the company, the more time leaders spend on their decisions. Companies with more than 2,000 employees are twice as likely to take advantage of opportunities to take more time off.

Where do employers make these decisions? With 65% of employers hiring benefits consultants, 62% using benefit utilization data, and 58% using employee surveys and medical plan claims reviews, it appears that a wide range of tools are coming into play. However, many employers miss a significant part of the picture, with only 16% looking at the social determinants of health.

The proven benefits are still ahead.
When it comes to employees, they agree that the most common benefits are desk benefits, which means paid sick along with health, dental and vision insurance. But there is little agreement on what everyone wants to see as part of the benefits package. 50% of respondents want access to a gym, 42% want nutrition assistance facilities, and 41% want company-sponsored wellness activities like group yoga and meditation.

Other benefits that may be important: 34% of workers want mental health support, 29% want chronic health care, and 28% want family-building support with maternity or adoption benefits. Bottom line: Employees will find themselves missing out on the benefits they want

Also Read: Blue Shield's First Virtual Health Plan Has $0 Out-of-Pocket Costs

However, the most commonly used benefits are additional standard benefits such as mental health support, family planning support and paid parental leave land, health insurance, dental insurance, paid sick leave and vision insurance. Very high

While this may encourage employers to invest in more "creative" health benefits, it's important to remember that taking care of mental health, taking weeks or months off to care for a new child, can be unintentionally stressful. the work culture is disappointed with the Administration. The existence of a benefit does not mean that the employee has the power to use it.

Telehealth is part of the new normal.
More than 70% of employers surveyed have telehealth available, and that number is expected to grow in the coming years as popularity grows due to the pandemic. Unlike other ancillary healthcare facilities, telehealth sees high usage rates, with 72% of employees having participated in a virtual care session in the past 12 months (Figure 3). While telehealth appointments are often used for primary care, 24% of employees received specialty care and 20% received mental health through virtual visits. A staggering 19% reported using it for an emergency or medical emergency.

Most respondents stated that telehealth did not increase their number of appointments, although this statement may be true depending on the generation of the workforce. Half of Gen Z workers reported at least some increase in hiring. Of course, familiarity with technology can play a big role in helping employees feel comfortable accessing their attention via phone, text message, or video call.

For employees with access to digital health tools, 25% believe they help them deal with mental health issues. At the low end, 36% didn't think chronic health conditions, cognitive impairment, fertility issues, or mental health struggles addressed any of the issues listed. This may mean that employers are increasingly critical of the digital tools they add to their healthcare services.

Also read: See a doctor soon? Virtual care reduces waiting time for specialists

Healthcare navigation is on employers' radar.
America is known for its complex healthcare system. Patients go between employers, insurance companies and hospitals to find out what treatment they can get, who the provider is and, if they're lucky, the estimated cost of care.

Employers, especially in recent years, have realized that employees need guidance not only on which benefits to choose, but also on how to use them. Specifically, nearly half of employers said they actively help employees choose health plans and estimate how much it will cost. Also, 68% of employers said they are more confident that their employees have the tools they need to make better health care decisions, even though nearly half of those employers are unaware of the benefits of health care navigation.

In fact, companies that fully paid for employee health navigation services were 20% more confident than those that did not offer the benefit. While employers may question whether their chosen service is inherently effective, it gives employees confidence that they can make better health care decisions than ever before.

Companies cite many reasons for wanting to introduce a health coaching tool, and cost is not the first. Nearly 80% of employers are motivated to hire to provide a better employee experience, 54% to improve health outcomes and 52% to reduce costs.

Also Read : Do Health and Financial Security Benefits Work Together?

Among those not surveyed about healthcare, 36% believe they can or will add to cost reduction as a major driver. This suggests that employers looking to upgrade their current facilities are costing more than employers with existing navigation facilities. Considering the economic picture, it is more suitable.

Care is not cheap
Employers are not blind to the financial pressures employees face while caring for them. Roughly half of employer respondents believe employee health care costs are too expensive, 45% think it's affordable, and 5% think it's affordable.

However, some employers still don't realize how difficult the cost of care is: 66% of workers say the cost of care with their current health plan is too expensive, and only 32% say the cost is worth it (Figure 4). This slight difference in cost awareness between employers and employees can ultimately be reflected in benefits decisions. Employers may want to learn more about how employees feel about what they are paying for their care.

In addition to the high cost of healthcare, workers often have no idea how much their treatment will cost. More than half of the workers believe that their care was more expensive than expected last year; For people with chronic pain, this number rises to 60%. About 30% have had to pay an unexpected medical bill in the last two years. Many workers don't believe their health plans are truly accessible or affordable for care.

Also read: 6 categories of benefits on the agenda of every HR Group by 2023

On the bright side, there are babysitting positions with lower costs to worry about. More than 80% of the workforce has affordable or affordable access to telehealth and primary care. However, employers should note that one-third have difficulty providing specialist care, urgent or emergency care, dental care and imaging (Figure 5).

Surprisingly, nearly 80% of employers rank health insurance as affordable, which may not be true for employees. Employers may want to take the time to determine if employees are delaying care because they're worried about using their health plans or because they can't pay their bills. If employer-sponsored health insurance is another barrier to care, something needs to change.

the way forward
Employers and employees know that health care is expensive, and many workers find it more expensive than they think. But employers struggle to provide effective purchasing tools to help employees become savvy consumers. Fortunately, most workers agree that affordable points of care are available, including telehealth and primary care. Employers may want to work to ensure that their employees can afford specialty care, urgent and urgent care, lab and imaging appointments. It is wrong to think that insurance plans offer maximum services at cheap prices.

Also read : Why the priority of women's health benefits in 2023?

In addition to costs, there are difficulties in finding staff and arranging providers, which can delay needed care. Most workers can say they have at least one positive experience when they see a provider, but a person's race, gender, and sexuality can affect the quality of care. Employers can prioritize factors such as patient satisfaction and timely care when making benefit decisions.

It's no secret that healthcare costs will rise; Employers need to be honest about whether current benefits are affordable and affordable. Failure to do so will cost employers more in the long run.

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