As economic, social and climate pressures continue to challenge employers; businesses must take a holistic and unified approach to identifying, evaluating and mitigating threats to their organizations. Our 2022 People Risk Report showed the impact workforces have on organizational resilience and sustainability, making the health and well-being of employees a top priority not just for HR but also for risk managers and C-suite.
Our recent insurer survey (Health Trends 2023 Report) surveyed insurers from around the world, including 14 markets in MEA, to identify the key health trends organizations should expect in 2023 and the impact of these trends on their businesses.
With the ongoing war for talent, soaring inflation, and rising healthcare costs, employers will need to make changes in the way they operate in order to ensure they are meeting the expectations of their employees.
Read our checklist below to find out the key steps you should be considering now in order to ensure workforce and business resilience and sustainability in the future.
- Medical cost increase
- COVID-19
- Employee expectations
- Mental health gaps
- Management of benefit plans
With per-person medical costs on the increase again, businesses with employer-sponsored medical programs need to ensure they are containing medical costs while maintaining benefit plan competitiveness and value for employees. Employers should:
- Engage stakeholders on whether to prioritize plan competitiveness vs. cost containment and factor forecasted cost increases into their budgets.
- Plan for a higher-inflation environment and usage claim patterns reflecting later-stage diagnoses.
- Create an intentional, strategic plan to manage plan costs over the long term.
- Prioritize benefits and programs most favored by employees through employee listening.
COVID-19 continues to impact claims and insurers say people are experiencing the effects of disrupted care alongside ongoing COVID claims. To manage the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, employers should:
- Promote regular screenings, especially for non-communicable diseases with a high claims cost and/or frequency rate, such as respiratory conditions, cancer and endocrine/metabolic diseases.
- Provide programs and tools to support employees and their families’ well-being.
- Encourage working practices that minimize the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
- Encourage employee behavior that promotes a healthier, more active and balanced lifestyle.
Changes in the nature of work and employee expectations resulted in businesses reviewing and adapting their benefit strategies to keep up with plan modernization. Digital health support is rapidly evolving but there has been limited progress on health sustainability. Employers should:
- Evaluate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies in relation to current benefits.
- Explore insurers’ plans for future use of digital health.
- Assess whether insurers’ offerings are inclusive and meet the needs of the workforce.
- Seek to understand insurers’ own Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) credentials as a part of business supply chains.
Despite progress, mental health gaps persist as plans continue to exclude mental health care or provide minimal coverage. In order to ensure their benefit plans are sustainable and gaps in mental health care are filled, employers should:
- Evaluate levels of coverage for mental health support.
- Supplement insurer offerings with noninsured mental health programs and supports.
- Understand whether remote telemedicine support extends to mental health services.
- Consider how design and management of work impacts employee health and well-being.
The management of benefit plans in a compliant and fair manner is becoming increasingly complex especially when it comes to meeting new legislative and regulatory requirements. Organizations must prepare for more complex plan-design decisions and should:
- Reviewing existing policies to ensure they are meeting regulatory and legislative requirements, including new ESG standards on sustainability.
- Watch for new insurer requirements for underwriting and be ready to meet them.
- Be proactive with insurers and adjust plan details to account for year-over-year inflation.
- Anticipate the increase in the cost of life insurance given the impact of COVID-19.
