Workplaces are heading towards greater integration of health and insurance benefits

Employers are building towards a more integrated approach to their wellbeing programmes and insurance benefits. However, despite this more holistic approach, the key challenge of tailoring wellbeing plans to address areas in which the cost of claims is highest is not being tackled, finds REBA’s Employee Wellbeing Research 2020 report, published in association with AXA PPP healthcare.

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Organisations are feeling more optimistic about how their wellbeing insurance offering works together with their wellbeing plan, with 18% saying the two are fully complementary, up from 16% in 2019. In addition, nearly two-thirds (64%) say their strategies are partly complementary, a rise on 52% last year.

The sorts of issues cited as posing a barrier towards a more collaborative approach are cost (18%), product offerings being siloed (16%), and the fact that the different plans are managed by different teams (15%). Interestingly, a fifth said there was no barrier to a more joined-up approach.

Overcoming such obstacles to encourage greater integration can enhance the value of both insurance products and wellbeing initiatives, said the report.

Meanwhile the survey of 309 wellbeing, HR and employee benefits professionals revealed that nearly two-thirds of employers (59%) are not being strategic in tackling risks associated with higher cost insurance claims, for example, by adapting wellbeing schemes to focus on insurance hotspots.

The three conditions that incurred the most expensive claims in the past 12 months were identified as musculoskeletal conditions (80%), cancer (71%), and mental health conditions (47%).

Yet, the report pointed out, that while musculoskeletal health is a source of highest cost, it is only the sixth most widely covered area within wellbeing strategies and is low on employers’ priority list for 2020.

“We might have expected both these figures to be higher given the costly nature of this area of health,” said the report.

“By identifying which conditions are leading to claims most often, employers can tailor their wellbeing strategies and initiatives accordingly and hopefully reduce the number of claims being made,” it concluded.

Download a copy of the 92-page Employee Wellbeing Research 2020 (free to REBA Professional Members and all those working for REBA Associate Members).

The author is Rima Evans, freelance writer for REBA.