More than 175 million Americans, about half of the U.S. population, have health insurance through their employer. That one fact carries great weight. For employers, the affordability and sustainability of health benefits are no longer a back-office concern. It's your front-line strategy for attracting and retaining talent.
And our employees themselves are telling us what they value. Millennials now make up the largest generation in the U.S. workforce, and they deeply value and actively take advantage of their mental health benefits. Research shows that more than 60% of these employees participate in these resources. Mental health support is no longer a 'nice to have'. This is essential in any modern benefits plan.
big divide
We all feel it. The benefits landscape is changing in ways never seen before. Employees want benefits that fit their needs. Finance teams are watching costs like a hawk. And HR leaders are scrambling to keep up with all of this.
As we work with employers across the country, we see a significant disconnect between finance and human resources teams in how they approach benefits strategy. In finance, you can see the cost line. HR recognizes talent lines. However, I strongly believe that these two goals are not contradictory.
When we help our members navigate a complex (some would say broken) health care system and get the right medicine to the right provider, higher quality care yields lower costs. It should benefit both parties. If we can create systems that detect symptoms early, use precision medicine to get people into treatments that actually work, reduce delays in care, and direct members to centers of excellence on the path to treatment, members receive better care and employers pay less.
More empathy, more navigation, better results
More and more companies are looking for solutions, and I think it's possible to provide more services to employees while reducing costs. More empathy. It will further help you navigate to better, higher quality healthcare.
This is most important when an employee receives a scary diagnosis like cancer. Helping our members understand where to start makes a huge difference so they don't feel like they have to make the most important medical decisions of their lives on their own.
Employers as job change agents
Let's face it: the deck in this healthcare game is stacked against employers. That's why we design important programs and leverage the best of the world's largest insurance brokerage and consulting firm to negotiate with airlines. We help employers fight back.
But leverage alone is not enough. Employers need to be agents of change and are parties with both the incentive and the influence to move health care in a better direction. No one else is coming to fix this.
5 everyday actions that will change the curve
Real change happens even at the most human level. Effective wellness programs teach members to focus on five important daily behaviors: sleep, diet, exercise, stress management, and connection.
Even something as simple as a 60-second reset, a short pause to interrupt your stress cycle, can start to change your patterns. Employers can design programs that help members recognize and build healthy habits that lead to better outcomes for employees and their families.
Science is becoming more and more powerful. We now understand how stress causes inflammation, how sleep shapes the immune system, and how diet and exercise influence health outcomes. What is changing is the willingness to treat these small daily habits as essential to modern care. I believe that within five years this will be the standard of care.
what happens next
More changes will occur in the healthcare field in the next five years than we have seen in the last 50 years. Winning employers will be those that bridge the gap between finance and HR, demand quality as a path to cost reduction, and treat employee well-being as a true strategy.
The question is no longer whether or not to act. It's whether you lead the change or pay for the change of others.
