You might have heard that the majority of Americans now have health insurance, with California in particular boasting high numbers. In our state, 45 percent of people are covered by an employer-provided health insurance policy*. But how are your workers actually using their health benefits? We know that simply having a health insurance policy is only one piece to the overall healthcare puzzle.\r
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Over the next few weeks we’ll share some stats with you, broken down by income range, to help you understand how your employees are actually accessing their benefits package. This week, we’ll be talking about workers earning less than $50,000 annually. These stats were gathered by Aflac, to understand how benefits influence factors like health, employee retention, and productivity. \r
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Productivity. Fifty percent of these workers say that their healthcare benefits are very or extremely important to their overall work productivity. \r
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Retention. Still, though, 55 percent of these workers say they are likely to look for a new job in the coming year. How can you make them stay? Thirty-eight percent say that improving their health benefits package could convince them. \r
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It is possible that, although this demographic does have health insurance, their deductibles or co-pays might be creating a strain on their budgets. In fact, 82 percent said that they have less than $1,000 to pay out-of-pocket expenses associated with a serious illness or accident. That might explain why 74 percent of respondents said that they would consider voluntary insurance options, if offered by their employer, to help with these expenses. \r
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Other types of insurance. Since 86 percent of respondents reported that a benefits package is influential in helping them stay with their current employer, Alfac probed further to see which insurance benefits are most commonly offered. \r

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• 88 percent of these workers were offered a major medical insurance policy

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• 58 percent are offered life insurance

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• 44 percent are offered disability insurance

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• 17 percent are offered voluntary insurance

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What can we learn from these stats? We already know that a comprehensive benefits package is one of the most important components of employee retention. But which benefits are most important? In the under-$50,000 earnings range, we can see that many workers are concerned with their out-of-pocket costs, while most employers are not offering voluntary insurance packages to help lower that burden. So, while the vast majority of these workers do have health insurance, they aren’t necessarily fully satisfied with their benefits package. \r
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For more information on health insurance, voluntary insurance, and other important components of a comprehensive benefits package, give us a call. We can identify ways to help your employees better access their healthcare policies, and promote a happier workplace for all. \r
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*http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-population/?currentTimeframe=0&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D