National Business Group On Health Survey On Health Care Is Revealing In It’s Findings
Posted by Depressed - 19/08/10 at 05:08 pmHow employees view health care is looked out in a new survey conducted by the National Business Group and Hewitt. In order to plan their company health care strategies, it is important to be aware of the results of the survey. Help for prescription medication is high on the list.
Workers may how to get healthy, but many aren’t taking action. Most (84%) think making wise choices in daily life leads to good overall health, and nearly three-quarters (72%) feel good health is a consequence of getting regular preventive care. Only 46% of the workers surveyed reported doing a “great” or “good job” of regular exercising and only about half of the employees think they do a “great” or good job” of eating healthy. To help with the expensive prices of medicines, most workers surveyed rated prescription program assistance very high.
In spite of high satisfaction in health programs, involvement remains low. Workers and dependents say they know what actions they need to take to get and stay healthy, but participation in many employer-provided health improvement programs is not as high as employers would like. The most popular programs include biometric screenings (61%), followed by online health information tools (53%) and health risk questionnaires (41%). The least popular programs were stress management programs and employee assistance programs. 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. Many employers presume that offering cash incentives in exchange for participation will generate the best results and incent employees to participate in health care programs. 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. In addition, 44% of the employees surveyed said they would be willing to take part in a wellness program provided by their employer because “it is the right thing to do”.
