Health Care a Top Concern to Address in Financial Wellness Programs

Surya Kolluri, with Bank of America, says financial wellness should be thought of in the broadest way, with an eye toward how employees live their lives; this includes health care and caregiving efforts.

More than twice as many companies are offering workplace financial wellness programs to employees today compared to four years ago (53% vs. 24% in 2015), according to Bank of America’s ninth annual 2019 Workplace Benefits Report.

More than half (55%) of employees today rate their own financial wellness as good or excellent, down from 61% a year ago. Employees who rate their financial wellness positively are more likely to feel that they can effectively manage their day-to-day finances, pay bills while saving for future goals, and that their retirement savings are on track.

According to Bank of America, awareness and understanding of critical health care savings and caregiving support benefits are lacking.

Surya Kolluri, managing director with Bank of America’s retirement and personal wealth solutions group in Boston, says financial wellness should be thought of in the broadest way, with an eye toward how employees live their lives.

“When we think about priorities in life, health care is at the top. It is a financial burden,” Kolluri says. The Bank of America report shows the average person spends $7,700 per year in health care costs. In addition, the survey of 996 employers and 804 employees found 53% of employees have skipped or postponed an activity—going to the doctor, buying a prescription, etc.—to save money on health care.

“As we go from work life to retirement life, health care costs will only go up. If we don’t address health care costs now, it will drive down employees’ feelings of financial security,” Kolluri says. “We should all appreciate that health and wealth are two sides of same coin; If one is not healthy, he may draw on savings to pay for expenses, and if one is not financially well, being unable to get care and the stress of financial burdens can drive up health care costs.

Employers can encourage employees to take advantage of no-cost preventive care, health savings accounts (HSAs) and employer-provided physical wellness programs to get a handle on health care costs now and for the future.

Kolluri says HSAs are emerging as a critical tool to address health care costs. But, HSAs are connected to high-deductible health plans (HDHPs). Bank of America found 90% of employers that offer HDHPs also offer HSAs. More than three-quarters (76%) of employees that have an HDHP are also enrolled in an HSA.

But, the study found 65% of employers say they have a good understanding of HSAs, while only 7% correctly identified four basic attributes of HSAs. Likewise, 57% of employees say they have a good understanding of HSAs, while only 11% correctly identified the attributes.

Kolluri suggests that employers should not only offer HSAs, but provide HSA education. They should inform employees of what health care costs and how Medicare works, as well.

Caregiving

Caregiving is another way of life for many employees that employers may not recognize. According to the Bank of America report, 45% of employees perform caregiving duties for a family member, and 62% of caregiver employees don’t believe their employer knows they’re a caregiver.

In the most recent Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index survey, roughly half of U.S. investors (53%) report they have provided financial assistance, personal assistance or both to adult children or extended family members—not including school tuition. When asked how much they spent in total in the past year financially supporting adult family members—not including college expenses for an adult child—investors estimate spending $10,000 on average.

Non-retired investors are 11 percentage-points more likely than retired investors to say that providing this monetary help has harmed their finances (31% vs. 20%). Nearly one in four say the time commitment has negatively affected their ability to save for retirement (23%) or their finances more generally (22%).

Kolluri says employers should think about offering caregiving benefits as part of a broader financial wellness program. He suggests offering flexible work hours as well as care consultation programs to give patient’s advice about care, for example. In addition, providing a subsidy for the suggested care needed can help caregivers financially.

He explains that flexible work hours could provide caregivers time for caregiving activities, including implementing legal actions that can put the person they are caring for in a better financial position.

Women’s versus men’s financial wellness

Kolluri says one trend found in the report is the difference between women and men when it comes to financial wellness. “The life journey and financial life journey for women is different from men,” he says.

Bank of America found women are less likely to say they are financially well; 43% of women versus 65% of men. In addition, the median retirement savings for women is $30,000 compared to $100,000 for men.

Kolluri attributes this in part to more women taking time off to raise children or taking time off to be a caregiver. “Overall its’ the right thing to do, but the effect on time and savings is showing up,” he says.

The most recent Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index survey shows that women investors are more likely than men to spend time helping a parent or in-law (14% of women versus 8% of men). Women who provide this care are also much more likely than their male counterparts to be the sole caregiver (40% versus 13%).

Diversity and inclusion

The Bank of America reports suggests that diversity and inclusion (D&I) programs contribute to a feeling of financial wellness.

Kolluri says diversity and inclusion impacts wellness, engagement and participation in programs.

“According to studies, corporations with a D&I program perform well,” he adds. “We found only half of employers have D&I programs. Having strong executive sponsorship and strong employee networks can lead to engagement, participation and a feeling of wellness.”

Source: PLANSPONSOR

Latest Developments

We keep our members and partners in touch with the most recent updates and opinions in the worldwide dialogue on population longevity and related issues.

Global Coalition on Aging Workshop Calls on G7 Countries to Fund Pull Incentives to Spur Antibiotic Innovation

The Global Coalition on Aging, in partnership with JPMA, today announced the release of its workshop report on the AMR crisis facing G7 countries and the world, “The Value of Pull Incentives in Japan to Encourage Investment in Antibiotic Innovation to Solve the AMR Crisis.” If strong action is not taken to address AMR, we will lose the antibiotics we need to cure infections, which is likely to outpace cancer as a major cause of death, killing an estimated 10 million by 2050.

Our National Conversation on Aging

Now that President Biden officially declared his run for a second term, what are we to make of the countless warnings about his age? Clearly, voters have already considered age a major factor – Google Search results for ‘Biden age’ hit an all-time-high just before the 2020 election – and speculation has only heightened four years on. Unfortunately, these concerns are misguided and even dangerous because they conflate age with poor health and confuse ideas about work and retirement.

World Immunization Week: Best-Kept Secret for 21st-Century Healthy Aging

The tremendous success of childhood immunisation campaigns across the 20thcentury is one of the greatest triumphs of public health. Along with advances in sanitation and antibiotics, childhood immunisation has resulted in the miracle of modern longevity: the once extravagant prospect of growing old has become the norm. Now, in our 21st century, isn’t it our great challenge to build on this achievement by realising a healthy longevity?

South China Morning Post Letter to the Editor

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the defining global problems of our time. Drug-resistant bacterial infections killed an estimated 1.27 million people in 2019. By 2050, 10 million lives annually could be lost to antimicrobial resistance, and annual global gross domestic product could fall by between 1.1 per cent and 3.8 per cent. Fortunately, Chinese policymakers, physicians and patients have shown what is possible when they focus collective efforts on antimicrobial resistance.

Medicine Price Setting Might Appeal to Voters but Will Cost Patients

As policymakers search for potential cuts to the national budget, they risk jeopardizing the country’s most cost-effective use of healthcare dollars: biomedical innovation regarding vaccines , prescription drugs, and emerging therapies, including antibodies. As the nation rapidly ages, protecting this pipeline of medicine will not only improve health outcomes but will do so at a lower cost by reducing more expensive hospital and primary care.

Global Coalition on Aging Hosts Cross-Sector Roundtable to Tackle Heart Valve Disease in Aging Societies

The Global Coalition on Aging (GCOA) and the Global Heart Hub have released a global position paper “Heart Valve Disease: Harnessing Innovation to Save Lives, Mitigate Costs, and Advance the Healthy Aging Agenda.” The report builds upon on a December 2022 GCOA-GHH roundtable of cross-sector experts and examines how behavior and policy change can best address heart valve disease in our 21st century.

New York City Twins with Ireland to Develop Age Friendly Communities

The twinning commits both sides to share knowledge on age friendly programs and builds on the 2011 Dublin Declaration of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. The agreement was signed by the Cathaoirleach (Mayor) Nick Killian of Meath County Council which hosts the Irish Age Friendly Programme and Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez, Commissioner for Aging.

Just Getting Started at 75

In the latest charge against the promise of healthy aging, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, oncologist and bioethicist, doubled down on his infamous 2014 essay stating that 75 is the ideal age to die. Now 65, he maintains that after age 75, he will no longer receive medical screenings and interventions like colonoscopies, cancer treatment, flu shots, and heart valve replacement.