What's trending in health matters among the nation's large employers? The National Business Group on Health, with Truven Health Analytics, set out to determine that.

Responses to the survey, the Employer Measure of Productivity, Absence and Quality, were obtained from 107 large U.S. companies. The survey focused on seven components of most large employer plans. Here's what came back:

Onsite Clinics

  • 60 percent offer an onsite clinic;

  • 48 percent provided acute care services;

  • 33 percent provided occupational health services;

  • 86 percent of manufacturers offered an onsite clinic, the largest percentage of any industry in the survey;

  • 29 percent of financial services and insurance firms offered such services, the lowest percentage.

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Health Risk Assessments

  • 88 percent offer one;

  • At least 80 percent of all industries offer an HRA;

  • The average participation rate across industries was 49 percent;

  • Pharmaceutical companies have the highest participation (74 percent);

  • Energy and utilities have the lowest at 21 percent participation.

Family and Medical Leave Act

  • The average FLMA daily usage was 19.6 per 100 covered employees;

  • The hospitality and retail industry had the highest rate at 27.7;

  • The pharmaceuticals industry had the lowest at 12.8.

Short-term Disability 

  • Large employers had an overall STD incidence of 8.4 per 100 covered employees;

  • Manufacturing experienced the highest rate at 10.1;

  • Higher education experienced the lowest at 4.2;

  • The average cost per covered employee was $374;

  • The pharmaceuticals industry's $771 STD cost per employee was double the all-industry average.

Long-term Disability

  • The annual LTD claim incidence was 4.13 per 1,000 employees;

  • The pharmaceuticals industry reported the lowest at 2.31 per 1,000 employees;

  • Manufacturing reported the highest at 4.78;

  • Although the manufacturing industry had the highest rate of LTD claims, its cost per claim was the second lowest of all industries, at $5,286 compared with an all-industry average of $9,546.

Workers' Compensation

  • The average workers' compensation incidence rate in 2014 was 3.56 per 100 FTEs;

  • The incidence in the health care industry rate — the highest of all industries — was six times higher than that of the financial services and insurance industry;

  • The energy and utilities industry rate was 34 percent lower than the all-industry average rate, but the cost per full-time employee was 70 percent higher.

Employee Assistance Programs

  • Average program cost was $22 per employee;

  • Highest spend was $38 per, in the energy and utilities industry;

  • Lowest spend, at $13 per, was in health care;

  • Average EAP participation averaged 6 cases per 100 employees;

  • The highest participation (11 cases per 100 employees) was in the hospitality and retail sector, and the lowest rate (1 case per 100 employees) was in pharmaceuticals.

 

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Dan Cook

Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.