Health Care Survey Reveals Interesting Stats
How employees view health care is examined in a new survey performed by the National Business Group and Hewitt. These insights are important for businesses to be aware of as they examine their existing and upcoming health care approaches. Help for prescription medication is high on the list.
Many employees are not doing what they ought to do to get healthy even though they know better. Most (84%) think making good choices in every day life leads to good overall health, and roughly three-quarters (72%) believe good health is a outcome of getting regular preventive care. Only half of the workers think they do a great or good job of eating healthy, while less than half (46%) reported doing a great or good job of working out on a regular basis. To assist with the high cost of medication, most employees surveyed rated prescription program assistance pretty high.
Participation in health programs is low, but satisfaction is high. Employees and dependents say they know what actions they need to take to get and stay healthy, but participation in many employer-provided health enhancement programs is not as high as employers would like. Biometric screenings are the most popular programs with online health information tools and health risk questionnaires following closely. Stress management programs and employee assistance programs (EAPs) were the least popular, with just nine percent participation in each. For employees that had dependent coverage, a prescription program was the number one satisfying benefit.
Internal motivators can be just as effective as monetary ones. Frequently, employers assume that providing financial incentives for participating in programs will increase participation. Nearly half would complete a health-risk questionnaire (HRQ) without any incentive because it is “the right thing to do”. Twenty-nine percent would participate in a HRQ for an incentive and almost the same number would complete it if there was a penalty. Further, 44% of workers would participate in a wellness or health improvement program provided by their employer because it is the right thing to do.
