Survey: Workers would sacrifice popular perks for better health care benefits - BenefitsPro

Nearly all HR officials surveyed (97%) indicated they will be making changes to help reduce cascading health care costs. (Image: Shutterstock)

A new study reveals that 65% of workers would give up bonuses, paid vacation, and flexible hours for better health care benefits. Moreover, employees expect their employers to support them, not only by providing better benefits, but also by ensuring that they have access to best-in-class primary care providers who can guide them on their journey to better physical and mental health.

One Medical, a national member-based primary care organization combining in-person and virtual care, and the human resources and advisory firm Workplace Intelligence surveyed more than 1,600 employees and HR leaders and found that workers are eager to get back on track with their health after a stressful and demanding year.

Related: Pandemic-prompted shifts in employee benefits might stick

“Coming out of the pandemic, workers are prioritizing health care much more,” Dan Schawbel, managing partner of Workplace Intelligence, said in a statement. “Companies that prioritize the health of their workforce and invest in better health care benefits will be more likely to retain their workers in this highly competitive talent marketplace.”

Pandemic fallout

Many employees surveyed said their physical and mental wellbeing worsened during the pandemic. More than half (54%) skipped or postponed getting health care for themselves, and 33% deferred care for their children. Respondents said deferring care made them feel anxious and worried (55%), negatively affected their physical (45%) and mental health (49%), negatively impacted their ability to work (44%), caused them to lose sleep (43%), and led to a struggle with substance abuse (42%).

This worries HR leaders, who said the cost of employee health care is increasing at their companies as a result of deferred care. Nearly all HR officials surveyed (97%) indicated they will be making changes to help reduce cascading health care costs.

Suggested improvements

Employees and HR leaders indicated that better health care benefits could be achieved not only through sacrificing popular perks but also via the following:

• Improving affordability, convenience, and quality: The vast majority of workers noted the importance of affordability (89%), ease of using their benefits (89%), top quality and trustworthy providers (87%), fast (86%) and convenient (82%) access to in-person care, a focus on preventive health (85%), and seamless specialty care coordination (82%).
• Addressing cost issues: More than half (55%) of employees and the same percentage of HR leaders said their health care is too costly. Over three-quarters (76%) of employees, and 87% of HR leaders thought companies should cover “more” or “all” of employees’ health care costs.
• Focusing on primary care: On average, 80% of employees and more than 90% of HR leaders said that in addition to routine care, primary care providers should play a significant role in coordinating specialist care and hospitalization, offering advice on health promotion and disease prevention, and providing mental health care.

“We’ve seen many companies take significant steps to build a health care strategy centered around primary care, including preventive care and chronic care management,” Raj Behal, One Medical’s chief quality officer, said in a statement. “Not only can this approach lead to a happier, healthier, and more supported workforce, it can also help address the adverse health outcomes and rising health care costs that have resulted from the pandemic.”

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