How do barriers to quality health care impact Hoosier employers?
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It’s generally understood today that “health” isn’t limited to acute conditions like the cold, the flu or COVID. And if it’s not, it should be. Chronic health complications, mental health issues and maternity care all make an impact on a person’s life and, importantly, their workplace. Some of these longer-term health care concerns even arose from COVID:
- Almost half of workers (46%) are suffering from mental health issues since before the pandemic.
- 55% of workers also say a mental health issue has affected them more since before the pandemic.
Everyone needs access to quality health care, and it’s not just a health issue. It’s a business concern. When employees don’t have access to quality care, workplaces can be negatively impacted by issues such as presenteeism and absenteeism, lost productivity and seeing employees drop out of the workforce altogether. On the other hand, workplaces that encourage and facilitate employee health will likely be impacted for the better.
Preventive Health Care
Presenteeism is “the problem of workers’ being on the job but, because of illness or other medical conditions, not fully functioning” (Harvard Business Review). Twenty years ago, estimates concluded that presenteeism costs U.S. companies over $150 billion a year, so we can only imagine what the rates look like today.
A clear way to improve presenteeism and absenteeism is to ensure employees are receiving preventive health care such as annual wellness exams, vaccinations, preventive screenings and services, and chronic disease management. All of these allow patients to manage their health before it becomes an emergency, but it’s not as simple as it sounds. Only 8% of adults received the preventive care they were recommended. Over the long term, greater use of preventive care can lead to lower health care costs related to disease treatment and less sickness absence from work. This both reduces employers’ health-related expenditures and improves workers’ quality of life.
Healthy employees with reliable schedules make for healthy workplaces. Employers can and should play a role in encouraging their employees to seek preventive care. This is possible for employers who may not provide health insurance to part-time or contract employees, as well. Providing resources for those employees, such as information about Certified Application Counselors (CAC) who can help individuals enroll in health insurance, impact wellness and productivity.
Mental Health Care
According to the NIH, “mental health challenges present significant quality-of-life and financial burdens for employees and employers. Somewhere between 30% and 50% of adults experience mental illness over their lifetimes, resulting in more than $200 billion annually in health care utilization and lost work productivity.” Mental health stigmas have declined in recent years leading to more individuals seeking mental health care, however, “67% of employees with a mental illness found it challenging to access care.”
In Indiana, we are seeing some moves to improve this by dedicating additional resources to emergency and crisis mental health care. Employer-supported mental health care, however, can help identify emerging mental health issues and encourage treatment sooner rather than later. As with general preventive health care, it’s better to identify and address mental health issues before they become an emergency. At JPCHC, we saw a record number of new hires in our Behavioral Health department in 2022 as the need for services from counseling to medication management continues to increase.
Maternal Health Care
Paid leave options for new parents are a larger conversation than we can effectively have here, but some business benefits are clear. The Sagamore Institute has researched paid family leave and found:
- There is a higher likelihood of wage increases in the year following a child’s birth for women who take leave.
- There is a lower likelihood of first-time mothers quitting a job when they have access to paid leave.
- There is a lower likelihood of women receiving public assistance in the year following a child’s birth among those who take paid leave.
Further, Rutgers University’s Center for Women and Work found that “women who report leaves of 30 or more days are 54% more likely to report wage increases in the year following the child’s birth than are women who take no leave at all.” This is critical. Women are exiting the workforce in droves, leaving a negative impact on workplaces, families and the overall economy. The more employers can do to ensure expecting and new mothers have quality care, the healthier their employees and their businesses will be.
In 2023, it’s not enough to only have the option of health care. People need support to receive it. Employers who have more flexibility and support for their employees’ physical and mental health care will see positive returns on investment that go far beyond their bottom line.
Marc Hackett serves as chief executive officer of the Jane Pauley Community Health Center (JPCHC). He has more than 25 years of supervisory, financial and business management experience in health care environments, including as founder and executive director of the Windrose Health Network and executive director of the Shalom Health Care Center.
