Why Your Company Should Provide Healthcare for Employees

Healthcare is at the forefront of many conversations today. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted many of the healthcare system’s shortcomings, people were understandably upset about the state of healthcare in the United States.

In a comparison of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita versus health care spending per person, the U.S. stands in a league of its own—in a bad way. Across the board, the average cost of healthcare versus GDP per person has an approximately one-to-ten relationship. This means, per $10,000 of GDP per capita, consumers will pay about $1,000. The vast majority of developed countries fall neatly into this trend.

These are few examples of this, as outlined in 2020 data from Peterson-KFF:

• Denmark (GDP per capita: $68,359; Health spending per capita: $6,748)
• Germany (GDP per capita: $53,804; Health spending per capita: $6,731)
• Korea (GDP per capita: $42,606; Health spending per capita: $3,494)
• Italy (GDP per capita: $41,392; Health spending per capita: $3,819)
• Mexico (GDP per capita: $19,035; Health spending per capita: $1,198)

As you can see, most follow a pretty similar trend line, with minor deviations above or below healthcare per capita costing 10 percent of GDP per capita. There are two notable outliers to this trend: Ireland, which is massively more efficient than the mean, with a GDP per capita of $90, 471 and healthcare spending of $5,604; and the U.S., which is massively less efficient than the mean, with a GDP per capita of $63,487, but a whopping healthcare spending per capita of $11,946.

The cost of healthcare is an outrageous burden on the citizens of the U.S. compared to others around the world. While it seems as though the wealthiest society in the history of the world could figure out how to provide affordable healthcare to its people, this isn’t the case. And thus, employers need to step up on this front. There are some important reasons why your company should provide healthcare for employees.

Why Your Company Should Provide Healthcare for Employees

If the first section didn’t make things obvious enough, healthcare is an absurd expense for most people. The average person often can’t even handle the costs without getting healthcare benefits from their employer. On its face, this should be a reason for your company to provide healthcare for employees; it’s the right thing to do for them.

But there are some essential additional considerations as well. At the top of this list, you have to think about how employees will respond to whether they do or don’t receive healthcare and other benefits. Employees that feel valued and secure will have a greater sense of loyalty to their employer. This can make a huge difference when there’s a tight labor market with many jobs and few workers to fill them.

How to Implement Healthcare and Benefits Packages

Once you’ve determined offering healthcare for employees is the right choice, you have to figure out how to do it. Working with a healthcare consulting firm can play a big role in helping you develop and roll out a benefits plan.

Every member of an organization is going to have different needs when it comes to their healthcare. This really goes for all employee benefits packages. When you work with a great healthcare consulting firm, you’ll have a few advantages:

• You’ll have some of the lead experts in healthcare transformation guiding your decisions to optimal conclusions.
• You’ll have access to the data analytics tools and other technologies that healthcare consulting firms use to better understand your employees.
• You’ll be able to leverage the know-how of an organization that has helped countless others succeed in their healthcare transformation.

Finding the right healthcare consulting firm might take some time, but is ultimately worth the effort. A great consulting partner will show you the way to offer healthcare to employees in the best possible manner.

Whether you’re hoping to retain employees, enhance your reputation in the business world, or just do the right thing, offering healthcare to your workforce is the right call. This is a good move for employees and companies alike.

Leofric Averille

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