Employees are putting off health care needs due to financial stress: Report

Today’s current economic environment is stressful. The International Monetary Fund is predicting a worldwide recession that could come in 2023, inflation remains high and labor remains in tight supply. A new 2022 Pulse Report: Current Market Impacts on Benefits Decisions, from Elevate says that employees are making poor decisions because of financial stress that could harm their physical, emotional and financial welfare.

When it comes to choosing a health care plan, employees don’t always consider the total cost, notes the survey. As a result, they may end up with less or more coverage than they need, potentially overburdening their paycheck or resulting in out-of-pocket costs they didn’t prepare for.

After interviewing more than 750 employees at major private-sector organizations (2,500+ employees), the survey finds:

• 65% are looking to cut discretionary spending, focusing instead on necessities.
• 28% of employees put off a screening or wellness check.
• 14% postponed a necessary medical procedure or delayed filling a prescription due to financial constraints.

Elevate’s report says that concern over out-of-pocket costs may be driving employee decisions around medical care that could have catastrophic consequences in terms of people’s health and finances. This is clearly a tradeoff no employer wants an employee to make.

The fact that more than a quarter of employees postponed wellness visits and screenings is also concerning. Employees don’t understand how their benefits work and are missing out on exactly the types of care that help safeguard their health and finances in the longer term.

The impact of these tradeoffs will eventually be felt by both employees and employers — in health issues and costs related to abandoned preventive habits, delayed screenings or postponed care — or in the financial implications of lack of preparedness for health care costs. This can have negative effects on individual employees, but can also drive increased benefits spending for employers.

Read more: Health care industry prepares for a big hit from delayed medical care of chronic diseases

Employers should act to help improve outcomes for their employees. Things like better education to understand health care coverage, comprehensive education on tax-advantaged accounts to help pay for expenses, technology to help understand health care accounts and consideration of plan design features that appeal to savers and entice people to start saving for future health care needs.