Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MILLION AMERICAN WORKERS SM © 2004 Metropolitan Life Insurance Company NY, NY All Rights Reserved L03125IB9(exp1204) MLIC-LD Rising health care costs are forcing businesses to demand ROI from their benefits investments. Demands on people productivity are driving employers to consider better targeted investment in human capital. A company’s disability experience offers a unique “window” to identifying solutions for the health and welfare of a working population. There is no other reference tool that provides this type of overview in the industry. Contains often requested statistics and information. Visualization of quantitative information. Provides solutions and resources for employers and their consultants. The impact of work disability has, until recently, been under-recognized by employers. Income is often not recognized as an important asset. Absence from work carries the direct costs of wage replacement but also a sizeable indirect cost. Workers submitting disability claims consume the lion’s share of employee health care dollars. TOP FIVE MOST COMMON CHRONIC DISABILITIES Lower Back Disorder Depression Coronary Heart Disease Arthritis Pulmonary Disease The demographics of a working population drives its disability experience Younger women: Pregnancy is most common cause of disability Younger men: Musculoskeletal injury is most common cause of disability Older workers: Cardiac disease and arthritis are most common cause of disability (regardless of gender) INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC TRENDS Industries have distinct demographic patterns Call centers are young and female Heavy industry is older and male Department stores are female, 35 - 50 years old INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC TRENDS Industries have distinct patterns of disability Blue-collar environments have higher rates of injuries and higher rates of lifestylerelated disabilities White-collar environments have higher rates of behavioral health disabilities INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC TRENDS Industry size drives experience Return to work opportunities are often driven by economies-of-scale THE STD* WINDOW * Short-Term Disability THE STD WINDOW: Benchmarking One employer may have dozens of medical carriers, but usually only one disability carrier. Therefore, a disability carrier can potentially provide benchmarks unavailable in the group health environment. Disability experience offers an employer a detailed “fingerprint” of its high volume utilizers. THE STD WINDOW: Investment Decisions Understanding where a working population has greater-thanexpected disability incidence is one way to focus benefits investments: Excess psychiatric disability may help justify investment in expanded employee assistance program (EAP) services. High rates of myocardial infarction may help support onsite cholesterol screening. Greater rates of STD claims for asthma may support investment in an asthma disease management program. THE STD WINDOW: Intervention A short-term disability carrier is interfacing with individual employees at a point in time where health care behaviors are ripest for influencing There are opportunities to describe to STD claimants of key employer-sponsored programs that may be of benefit. There are also opportunities to warm transfer (telephonic) STD claimants to appropriate programs. A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MILLION AMERICAN WORKERS SM EIGHT PREDICTIONS Work, Health and Human Capital A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MILLION AMERICAN WORKERS SM ARTHRITIS The aging workforce could drive 2X the prevalence of arthritis in the workforce in the next 15 years. Employers will need to reengineer job tasks, job sites and job tools with a new ergonomic focus on arthritis. A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MILLION AMERICAN WORKERS SM CANCER The aging workforce could drive 2X the incidence of cancer in the workforce in the next 10 years. Employer-sponsored health plans will face new cost challenges. Penalties for risky lifestyle choices (e.g. smoking) may become economically unavoidable. A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MILLION AMERICAN WORKERS SM HEART DISEASE The aging workforce could drive 3X the prevalence of heart disease in the workforce in the next 10 years. Greater societal intolerance of sedentary lifestyles, obesity and smoking could challenge how employers make hiring and promotion decisions. A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MILLION AMERICAN WORKERS SM BLUE-COLLAR As productivity demands continue to surge, and complexity of work on the rise, look for a significant increase in the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression in blue-collar workers in the next five years. The Behavioral Health industry will push for further de-stigmatization of mental health care, especially in working men. A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MILLION AMERICAN WORKERS SM INFECTIOUS DISEASE With antibiotic-resistant strains on the rise and greater international migration, look for new epidemics of infectious diseases to challenge the American workforce over the next ten years. The health care industry, and industries with large foreign-born populations will face greater immunization requirements for their workforce. A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MILLION AMERICAN WORKERS SM CONSUMERISM As individuals are increasingly responsible for managing -- and paying for -- their health care, there may be greater discrepancies between haves and have-nots. Higher socioeconomic status (SES) groups will see a decrease in disability incidence; lower SES groups will experience greater incidence. Industries with large populations of low-wage workers will face rising disability and health care costs. Health care coverage for these workers may be in jeopardy. A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MILLION AMERICAN WORKERS SM OUTCOMES In the next five years, employers will hold medical carriers accountable to deliver on absence and return to work as part of the value they bring to employers. There will be blurring of the roles traditionally assumed by medical carriers and disability carriers. A greater premium on absence reduction and productivity will force many medical carriers to reinvent themselves. A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MILLION AMERICAN WORKERS SM OBESITY As the obesity epidemic comes increasingly under public scrutiny, Americans will become much more aware of the inherent risks and hazards, and change their behaviors. This could significantly curb the upward trend. Americans will look to lifestyles in other countries (e.g., France, Japan, Sweden) and become more creative in finding less conventional solutions. A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF A MILLION AMERICAN WORKERS SM