The average age of a Delta Airlines employee is 48, which isn't old, of course, but it is an age at which we're that much closer to serious illness and higher health care bills.
It seems remarkable, at least to me, that Delta's workforce is as old as it. Airlines lose money as often as they lose luggage, so you'd imagine plenty of employees running to the exits whether they were free to roam the cabin or not.
But clearly Delta employees have stayed loyal despite the turbulence that so often buffets their employer's income statements. I should say that Delta at the moment is doing just fine; it posted profits that soared to $1.37 billion in its latest quarter, a 30 percent improvement over the previous period.
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In any case, I think one of the reasons Delta can boast about employee longevity is because it has a robust health plan, one that was held up last week as an example for other employers to follow in a press briefing that focused on how cancer survival rates (which have improved vastly) are changing the employee benefits world.
The briefing was in Washington, D.C. I wasn't there, but I was able to listen in and I have to say, I think I fell in love with Delta's Lynn Zonakis, the managing director of health strategy and resources for the airline.
Or at least with what she was saying.
Zonakis spoke with real compassion about how employers can do more to keep their workers healthy, about supporting cancer patients during treatment, about helping them return to work.
Delta's initiatives in support of cancer patients include full coverage for various recommended cancer screenings, a Centers of Excellence program, ongoing communication on cancer topics and its Delta Health Direct — a confidential concierge health program that includes a nurse line, treatment decision support, wellness coaching and complex disease management.
The fact is, more employers will be dealing with these questions in years to come. A 2012 report from the American Cancer Society said the number of Americans with a history of cancer — a number that year that came to about 14 million — will climb to almost 18 million by 2022. That increase is attributable, of course, to better treatments, which leads to improving survival rates.
In any case, while Zonakis was a guest at the briefing, she wasn't the main attraction – a new guide was.
The "Employer's Guide to Cancer Treatment and Prevention" was developed under the auspices of the National Business Group on Health, with help from, among others, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of 23 of the world's leading cancer centers.
The guide was billed as the HR industry's first publication of its kind, and by the sound of it, a resource no employer of any significant size should be without. Actually, make that a resource no employer interested in retention, as well as cost-containment, should be without.
According to the NBGH briefing, cancer treatment is typically among the top three costliest conditions, representing, on average, 12 percent of total medical expenses. Cancer is also one of the leading causes of both short- and long-term disability. Additionally, more than 25 percent of employees act as caregivers to family members who are experiencing an illness, including cancer. In other words, it affects many of us and costs plenty of money.
As Helen Darling, president and CEO of the group, pointed out in a statement. "For employers, the financial, emotional and productivity burden of cancer in the workplace is high. … That's one of the main reasons we launched this project."
The guide contains recommendations on plan design, vendor and program management, enrollment and communications, plan administration, and vendor and program evaluation.
Work on producing it was led by a 35-member advisory committee consisting of benefit managers, clinical cancer experts, medical directors, health plan and pharmaceutical representatives, health care consultants, disability managers and others.
It took three years to produce, about as long as it took Tolstoy to get a first draft done of "War and Peace."
So now, with the guide at their elbows, benefit managers can perhaps do a better job of helping employees survive the war against cancer, their minds at peace on questions about work.
For more information about cancer in the workplace and to access "An Employer's Guide to Cancer Treatment and Prevention," visit www.businessgrouphealth.org/cancer.
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