Employer healthcare crisis: Higher premiums, less healthy workforce
November 20, 2009 by Jared BilskiPosted in: Benchmarking, Communication tips, Healthcare, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest news & views, Management issues
Here’s something that’s sure to keep employers up at night: As healthcare premiums continue to rise by double digits each year, employees’ overall health is declining steadily.
That’s what a Families and Work Institute study recently uncovered.
For example: Just 28% of employees said their overall health is excellent — down from the 34% who laid claim to excellent overall health six years ago.
And an even more disturbing: Almost half (49%) of employees said they hadn’t engaged in regular physical exercise in the last 30 days, with 22% of those staffers admitting they hadn’t exercised rigorously at all in the last 30 days.
To view the full study, click here.
These finding should support the need to beef up wellness initiatives in 2010 at most firms. But companies don’t need to spend a fortune. Here are four low-cost ways to promote healthier living among employees.
Tags: Families and Work Institute, Healthcare premiums, Physical exercise, Wellness
November 30th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
I’d be interested in seeing how the decline in exercise and overall health relate to the current market conditions. I know that exhaustion and stress levels in my organization are off the charts. Not surprising, given the staff reductions, declining sales, and increased responsibilities over the past year. Add that to the current stock market declines and soaring unemployment and you have the perfect recipe for declining employee health.