America's Benefit Specialist May 2023

NOTEWORTHY

Taken together, these enhancements could make a huge difference in helping workers make progress toward better health. And with so many employees and their families repri oritizing their well-being this year, there’s never been a more important time for companies to provide this type of support. SHRM RELEASES EMPLOYEE BENEFITS SURVEY RESULTS Each year, SHRM launches the Employee Benefits Survey—one of the longest-running annual bodies of research covering trends in employee benefits in the United States. This research collects data from HR professionals across the country to measure the popularity and prevalence of employer- offered benefits. In 2022, the Employee Benefits Survey regained a sense of normalcy both in terms of returning to traditional timing for data collection as well as reintroducing many specific benefits that were removed from the survey during the height of the pandemic. This provides organizations and business leaders with a more timely and complete picture on how they com pare to others in the employer-offered benefits space. The pandemic’s impact on the world of work has resulted in seemingly lasting changes among specific benefits offerings. For instance, 93% of organizations indicated that they offer telemedicine or telehealth offerings as a benefit to their work ers. Since last recorded, prevalence for this benefit increased by 20 percentage points. Similarly, employers indicating they offer mental health coverage also hit a new high of 91%. The strong prevalence of these benefits, even after businesses have returned to more normal conditions following the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, indicates that these benefit offerings may likely become permanent fixtures available in the future. Employers continued to feel that healthcare benefits are the most important type of benefit that an organization can offer its workers. Almost all organizations indicated they offer some type of healthcare plan to their employees. Nearly three-quar ters (72%) of organizations said they offer a fully insured health plan, meaning that they pay a fixed premium amount to an insurer who then pays the medical claim. Just over one-quarter of organizations (26%) said their health plan features a self-in sured plan, meaning they operate their own health plan and typically will pay medical claims themselves, although often through a third-party administrator. Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Accounts continued to be the most popular type of health-related spending accounts, with 63% and 57% of employers offering them, respectively. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of organizations that offer an HSA said they make employer contributions to these plans, which is the lowest prevalence since 2018, when 64% said they offered this benefit. Additionally, group coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement prevalence also declined in 2022, reaching its lowest point in the last five years—16%. Together, these results may indicate a trend seen

THE STATE OF WORKPLACE HEALTH One Medical, a membership-based primary care practice on a mission to make getting quality care more affordable, accessi ble and enjoyable for all, has released a report titled The State of Workplace Health. In last year’s study, One Medical examined how care avoidance during the pandemic affected people’s health and well-being. This year, One Medical again partnered with independent research firm Workplace Intelligence to survey 800 HR leaders and employee benefits leaders as well as 800 full-time employees. The goal of this year’s study was to assess the current state of workplace health and understand HR leaders’ and employees’ priorities for the year ahead. The survey also asked employees about their expectations for their healthcare benefits, and both respondent groups were asked to weigh in on the role primary care providers can play in helping people make progress to ward their health goals. The survey found that three out of four employees felt their health worsened or stayed the same in 2022. Just one-quarter said their health improved. One reason for this is that some workers are finding it difficult to access the care and informa tion they need: More than half (55%) reported feeling over whelmed when navigating the healthcare system. The survey also uncovered that while 64% of workers are struggling with mental or behavioral health issues, only 19% used their company’s mental health care benefits in 2022. Sim ilarly, only 37% used their plan to receive preventive care. In 2023, mental health and preventive care remain top priorities for employees. But in order to make progress in those areas, workers will need to overcome some significant barriers to receiving care—and that’s where care navigation solutions and primary care can assist. The vast majority of respondents agree it’s important to see a primary care provider on a regular basis. PCPs play a critical role in helping people navigate their care and access the physi cal, mental and behavioral treatments they need. However, 55% of employees and 66% of HR leaders inaccurately believe these providers either play no role in treating mental or behavioral health, or they can only screen for these issues. Meanwhile, 20% of workers don’t even have a PCP. This suggests that while employees may have resources available to take charge of their health, they’re not using them as effective ly as they could be. The good news is that many companies are enhancing their primary care benefit as a way to boost employee well-being and combat rising healthcare costs. In fact, 56% of employers are adding solutions for primary care in 2023. HR leaders are also responding to employee needs by prioritizing better care navigation, increasing awareness and communication around their benefits, and improving their mental health benefits.

24 ABS | benefitspecialistmagazine.com