Helping support employee well-being and reduce costs through integration and insights

As an employer, when you can understand the overall well-being of your employees and how your health initiatives work, you may be able to make better decisions about coverage and reduce costs for your employees and your company.

When done right, integration may lead to increased benefit utilization and better value for employees and their families. For employers, this can lead to reduced employee absenteeism, increased morale and company loyalty.¹

When we have the full picture of a person’s health, we can identify risk factors and concerns earlier and manage conditions more effectively Integrating health benefits can streamline the health care experience and provide valuable insights to support whole-person health and potentially lower costs.

Integrated or bundled benefits create a whole-person approach to employee health by bringing together medical and other benefits — dental, vision, disability, life, supplemental health, pharmacy, behavioral health care, and more — under one umbrella. This streamlined approach may give a more complete picture of each employee’s health and may help with:

• Identification and use of the most effective treatments
• Faster diagnosis and management of chronic conditions 
• Timely intervention to address behavioral health needs
• Reducing the cost of care for employees
• Improved coordination between benefits, resulting in better employee experience

Integrating medical benefits with benefits like dental and vision may help employees connect to their primary care provider when a broader health concern arises during a routine dental cleaning or eye exam. For example, dental and vision health are closely connected to overall health and well-being. In fact, seeking regular preventive dental care can help keep your teeth and gums healthy and reduce risk of conditions like cardiovascular disease,² and a comprehensive eye exam can help detect a variety of health conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and more.³

Another option includes supplemental health benefits, like accident insurance, critical illness or hospital indemnity, which are often offered on a voluntary basis, but can create additional flexibility for employees. These options can give employees a cash benefit that can be used for out-of-pocket health care expenses, rent, groceries and more.

Pharmacy benefits are a key part of any care plan. As drug costs continue to rise, it’s more important than ever to include these benefits as a part of a comprehensive health package.

When pharmacy and medical benefits are integrated under one carrier, both employers and employees may see advantages, including lower costs, better health outcomes and a more connected experience.

Mental health and physical health go hand in hand. When mental health issues are left untreated, they could lead to physical health problems requiring medical attention. Depression, for example, increases the risk for chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease and stroke.⁴

It’s estimated that 12 billion working days are lost annually due to depression and anxiety, costing employers up to $1 trillion in lost productivity globally.⁵ Offering behavioral health support as part of a health plan can make a big difference. That means choosing a carrier with a broad network of specialists, virtual care options and digital tools like Calm Health, which offers personalized mental health support and self-care resources for stress, sleep and more.

Proactive tools that assess care needs can also help guide employees to the right level of support. And when behavioral health benefits are integrated with medical and pharmacy coverage, care becomes even more connected, which can lead to better outcomes and lower costs.

The more employees take advantage of services in their health plan — sometimes referred to as engagement with the plan — the better their health. As a result of more engagement and better health, employees may be more productive in their work and their employer may need to spend less on health care. 

Employee use of benefits is often tied to how easy and connected the care journey is from beginning to end, and integrated benefits may help the process. 

For instance, when an employee has integrated medical and behavioral benefits, the nurse who enrolls the member in a diabetes management program may also do a screening for mental health conditions. If the test is positive for depression, the nurse may help with a connection to a behavioral therapist. Moving forward, if medications are required to manage chronic health conditions such as diabetes or emotional health needs, the employee would have one point of contact, which continues to help simplify the care.