Typical workers want good health benefits — but they say they care more about pay and having a pleasant workday more than their health benefits.
Aflac revealed workers' lukewarm interest in health benefits in their recent survey of about 2,000 U.S. workers.
Aflac focuses on the sale of supplemental life and health benefits at the worksite, and most of its employee survey questions focused on topics such as how well employees feel as if they understand their health benefits, how prepared they are to handle emergency bills and what kinds of voluntary insurance benefits they might buy.
But the company also asked the employees to rank the importance of the factors they consider when they're evaluating a new job opportunity.
Aflac calculated how many participants ranked the factors in the top three.
Here are the five top factors, based on that metric:
1. Pay: 56%
2. Health benefits: 38%
3. Work-life balance: 34%
4. High job security: 31%
5. Paid time off: 28%
Although health benefits came in second, only 8% of the survey participants ranked it as the most important factor. More participants ranked pay, work-life balance, high job security and the ability to do fulfilling work as the top consideration. A total of 30% of the participants are more interested in work-life balance, job security and fulfilling work than in health benefits.
What it means: Thoughtful employers know employees and dependents with serious health problems will be in desperate need of good health benefits, and that good health benefits can keep employees healthy and productive.
Public health policymakers believe that someone has to pay for care for seriously ill people in a modern society, and that widespread access to employer-sponsored health benefits will increase the resources available for doctors and hospitals.
But the Aflac results imply that most healthy workers put other factors before health benefits when choosing jobs.
That might help explain the recent federal Bureau of Labor Statistics report showing that the overall U.S. civilian worker health benefits take-up rate has fallen to 65% for all workers, down from 73% in 2019.
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