Insights as to how employees and their dependents perceive health care is discovered in a new survey released by the National Business Group and conducted by Hewitt. These insights are critical for businesses to recognize as they evaluate their present and future health care plans. Help for prescription medication is high on the list. 

Employees know how to get healthy, however a lot are not taking action. Most (84%) think making smart choices in daily life leads to good overall health, and almost three-quarters (72%) think good health is a outcome of getting regular preventive care. Only 46% of the employees surveyed reported doing a “great” or “good job” of regular working out and only about half of the workers think they do a “great” or good job” of eating healthy. To assist with the expensive prices of prescription medicine, most employees surveyed ranked prescription program assistance pretty high. 

In spite of high satisfaction in health programs, participation remains low. Involvement in many employer provided health programs isn’t as high as many businesses would like to see, even though workers and their dependents report that they know what they need to do to get and stay healthy. Biometric screenings are the most popular programs with online health information tools and health risk questionnaires following closely. Stress management programs and employee assistance programs (EAPs) were the least popular, with just nine percent participation in each. For workers that had dependent coverage, a prescription program was the number one satisfying benefit.

Internal motivators can be just as effective as financial ones. Many businesses presume that offering cash incentives in exchange for involvement 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. Further, 44% of employees would participate in a wellness or health improvement program offered by their employer because it is the right thing to do.