KFF 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey

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Dec 13, 2021, 3 Minute Read

To more effectively recruit and retain talent in today’s tight labor market, many employers are updating and expanding their health benefits to better align with employees’ needs as illustrated in the recently released Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey.

Conducted from January through July 2021, the KFF 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey, of 1,686 randomly selected private and non-federal public employers of three or more workers, reveals how the pandemic affected workplace health benefits, including mental and behavioral health services, telemedicine, health and wellness programs, biometric screenings, and more.

Key Findings

Among firms with at least 50 workers that offer health benefits:

39% report making changes to their mental health and substance abuse benefits since the beginning of the pandemic.
31% increased the ways enrollees can access mental health services, such as through telemedicine; and 16% offered new mental health resources, such as an employee assistance program.
6% say they expanded their in-network mental health and substance abuse providers, 4% waived or reduced cost-sharing for related services or 3% increased coverage for out-of-network services.
Overall 12% reported an increase in their enrollees’ use of mental health services. Among the largest employers (with 1,000 or more workers), more than a third (38%) reported such an increase.
65% say they made changes related to telemedicine due to the pandemic.
51% did additional promotion of their telemedicine benefits to workers and 31% expanded coverage for additional modes of telemedicine.
24% expanded the places where telemedicine could be delivered, 23% expanded the number or types of telemedicine providers and expanded covered telemedicine services.
5% of smaller firms and 27% of larger firms reduced or eliminated cost-sharing for telemedicine services.
55% say they made changes to their wellness programs due to the pandemic.
The most common wellness program changes involve expanding online counseling services (43%), expanding or changing existing programs to better meet the needs of people working from home (22%), and adding a new digital program such as an app (17%).

Additional Findings

Biometric Screenings
Among firms offering health benefits, 26% of small firms and 38% of large firms provide workers the opportunity to complete a biometric screening. Among firms offering a biometric screening opportunity both this year and last year, 32% of smaller firms (50-199 employees) and 43% of larger firms report making some change in their biometric screening programs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The changes include:

3% of smaller firms and 5% of larger firms reduced or eliminated incentives for completing the screening.
13% of smaller firms and 23% of larger firms permitted screenings to be completed by a broader set of providers.
5% of smaller firms and 15% of larger firms reduced the stringency of screening requirements.
19% of smaller firms and 18% of larger firms arranged for biometric screenings to be performed on a digital platform.

Read the KFF 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey to ensure you and your clients are up to date with the latest employer-sponsored coverage data. Contact us today to develop tailored benefits solutions that address your clients’ needs.

KFF 2021 Employer Health Benefits Survey

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Contact The Answer Team at 800.696.4543 or info@claremontcompanies.com.

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