Saving on Health Insurance Can Start at the Workplace

As more and more consumers look for ways to save on their skyrocketing healthcare costs, it may not come as a surprise to some that those savings can actually start right in the workplace.

Given the financial challenges facing many today, they know all too well that many large companies are forced to scale down healthcare coverage. The bottom line is that employees are left to pick up the difference.

As many company heads will state, the stakes for American companies have reached an all-time high. Unmanaged, preventable healthcare costs are one of the greatest drains on corporate income statements.

Employers, however, have the ability to turn things around.

Employers play a major role in encouraging healthy behaviors amongst their workforce and need to create a workplace culture of prevention in order to avoid a profitability crisis of major proportions.

During a message delivered in October to major employers, one CEO said it is critical to create a workplace culture of prevention and insights on employee health trends.

According to the CEO, more than 75 percent of today’s healthcare costs come from preventable, chronic diseases that are largely fueled by the public’s own personal health behaviors.

While companies pay for employee healthcare coverage at amounts increasing more than 10 percent yearly, they’re also taking in 70 to 80 percent of these cost hikes. At the same time, employees are incurring larger out-of-pocket expenses and larger shares of their premiums.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average family coverage premium grew 131 percent from 1999-2009, while worker contributions grew 128 percent.

Given those figures, employers can no longer shoulder the burden by themselves. With the U.S. median wage at approximately $43,000 per year, employees are also pushed nearly to the limit.

On the bright side, businesses can be pro-active and impact the prevalence of lifestyle-related diseases and their resulting medical and productivity costs by having employees undergo healthy behavior changes.

The CEO noted that many employers are proactively managing these expenses by forming a workplace culture of prevention and getting employees to become more physical active. As it turns out, however, more employers could, and should do more.

A recent Pricewaterhouse Coopers survey states that 94 percent of employers feel they could do a better job in assisting their employees’ health improvement efforts. Also, an April 2010 study from Virgin HealthMiles indicated close to 85 percent of the 1,926 employee respondents feel an employer has a responsibility to take a leadership role in encouraging and promoting wellness in the office.

According to the company, “Chronic diseases drain our nation’s health, our businesses, and our economy. It’s imperative we focus on prevention and keeping people healthy so we can avoid the rising demand for costly healthcare services. Focusing on prevention promotes personal responsibility and links lifestyle choices to good health. It also allows companies to ensure their interests are aligned with those of their employees so they can productively work together to drive down lifestyle-related healthcare costs.”

So, is your employer doing all it can to encourage employee wellness?