Healthcare in Our Recession-Oriented Workplace
The U.
S.
already spends a greater share of it's economy on healthcare than any other country in the world.
Unfortunately, the over $2.
2 trillion per year expenditures have been wasteful, ill-targeted, inefficient and un-fair, resulting in widespread dissatisfaction throughout the healthcare industry.
For the most part, many employees find themselves lucky to have any health plan at all offered to them through their employer (especially without unrealistic premiums borne by the employee) .
There are rarely any "choices" of plans which, in turn, has led to common dissatisfaction of coverage and a lowered level of usage or full access to adequate medical services.
Even "community-sponsored", local plans seem to provide little relief to the growing problems of a larger portion of the workforce without any coverage or on the verge of losing their coverage due to rising costs, etc.
It inevitably remains that the No.
1 concern of "Health Care Security" has never really been provided to the majority of workers in the workplace.
In the search for answers, various plans ranging from a single-payor National Health Insurance, to mandates requiring individuals to purchase private coverage under varying assistance options, to instituting Universal Health Savings Accounts, have all been discussed.
Due to these increased efforts to control costs and improve efficiency, a wide range of "Health Management (Wellness) Programs" have come into existence.
This is primarily due to the employers efforts to translate their health care costs into "increased employee productivity".
As a result, more and more employers (in cooperation with many insurers) are turning to considering these "workplace wellness programs".
Such programs, similar to those currently being conducted by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC), frequently include a comprehensive, coordinated plan which provides for on-site clinics, fitness centers, healthy-choice cafeterias, and physically active competitive events all designed to promote "health wellness" for the employee.
The theory as explained by Sean Sullivan, JD, the MHE Editor Advisor, at the Institute for Health & Productivity Management, Phoenix, AZ.
is "to get ahead of employee illnesses instead of waiting for it to happen".
With the "mandatory participation" versus "individual rights" issues set aside, such programs do show signs of promise in some areas.
Even these programs, however, do not really solve the true "health care" needs of our workforce.
Many new and creative concepts are still being introduced, examined, and tested, all in an effort to stem the tide of the increasingly larger proportion of the workplace that is facing "health care insecurity".
S.
already spends a greater share of it's economy on healthcare than any other country in the world.
Unfortunately, the over $2.
2 trillion per year expenditures have been wasteful, ill-targeted, inefficient and un-fair, resulting in widespread dissatisfaction throughout the healthcare industry.
For the most part, many employees find themselves lucky to have any health plan at all offered to them through their employer (especially without unrealistic premiums borne by the employee) .
There are rarely any "choices" of plans which, in turn, has led to common dissatisfaction of coverage and a lowered level of usage or full access to adequate medical services.
Even "community-sponsored", local plans seem to provide little relief to the growing problems of a larger portion of the workforce without any coverage or on the verge of losing their coverage due to rising costs, etc.
It inevitably remains that the No.
1 concern of "Health Care Security" has never really been provided to the majority of workers in the workplace.
In the search for answers, various plans ranging from a single-payor National Health Insurance, to mandates requiring individuals to purchase private coverage under varying assistance options, to instituting Universal Health Savings Accounts, have all been discussed.
Due to these increased efforts to control costs and improve efficiency, a wide range of "Health Management (Wellness) Programs" have come into existence.
This is primarily due to the employers efforts to translate their health care costs into "increased employee productivity".
As a result, more and more employers (in cooperation with many insurers) are turning to considering these "workplace wellness programs".
Such programs, similar to those currently being conducted by Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC), frequently include a comprehensive, coordinated plan which provides for on-site clinics, fitness centers, healthy-choice cafeterias, and physically active competitive events all designed to promote "health wellness" for the employee.
The theory as explained by Sean Sullivan, JD, the MHE Editor Advisor, at the Institute for Health & Productivity Management, Phoenix, AZ.
is "to get ahead of employee illnesses instead of waiting for it to happen".
With the "mandatory participation" versus "individual rights" issues set aside, such programs do show signs of promise in some areas.
Even these programs, however, do not really solve the true "health care" needs of our workforce.
Many new and creative concepts are still being introduced, examined, and tested, all in an effort to stem the tide of the increasingly larger proportion of the workplace that is facing "health care insecurity".
Source...