A new survey has found that managing health care costs and expanding mental health benefits will be a top priority for U.S. employers as they ramp up benefits to compete for talent in the tight job market spawned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, virtual care is expected to become an essential and long-lasting feature of employers’ health insurance and employee benefits strategies over the next few years, according to the “2022 Emerging Trends in Healthcare Survey” by Wills Towers Watson.

The focus on health care and insurance costs, mental health and expanded telehealth comes as employers continue pulling out all the stops to compete in a tight job market but face health care inflation headwinds.

Here’s the direction many employers are going, according to the survey.

Dealing with rising costs

In light of continuing rising health insurance costs, 94% of employers surveyed said they are redoubling their efforts to make benefits more affordable for their workers.

Nearly two-thirds of employers (64%) said they will take steps to address employee health care affordability over the next two years. Steps they are considering include:

• Improving quality and outcomes to lower overall cost.
• Adding or enhancing low- or no-cost coverage for certain benefits.
• Making changes to their employees’ out-of-pocket costs.
• Increasing the amount they contribute towards their employees’ health insurance premium.

Employers also felt that many of their employees were not getting the most out of their benefits and needed further education on all of their offerings. More than half (54%) said that lack of employee awareness about where to find programs to support their needs was a significant challenge.

Mental health

Eighty-seven percent of employers said that enhancing mental health benefits will be a priority for them.

That’s in response to numerous studies and reports indicating that the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a mental health crisis.

Another poll — the “Workforce Attitudes Toward Mental Health” report — by Headspace Health illustrates the depths of the problem:

• 83% of CEOs and 70% of employees report missing at least one day of work because of stress, burnout and mental health challenges.
• Only 28% of employees report feeling “very engaged” in their work.
• Top global stressors for employees are COVID-19; burnout because of increased workload or lack of staff; poor work-life balance; and poor management and leadership.
• 40% of women and 33% of men surveyed said they feel burned out at work.
• Remote workers are feeling increasingly isolated.

In response to this, 66% of employers surveyed by Willis Towers Watson said that ensuring that their health and well-being programs support remote workers will be a key priority of their strategy over the next two years. More than six in 10 employers plan to enhance programs and well-being activities to focus on health issues of their employees’ family members.

Virtual care

Use of virtual care — or telemedicine — has exploded during the pandemic, particularly in 2020 and 2021, when many people were afraid to go to the doctor in person for fear of contracting COVID-19.

Additionally, many health care providers pushed virtual care to avoid having too many people come to medical facilities that were burdened by an avalanche of patients.

Congress passed laws allowing health insurers to cover telemedicine as they would other visits to a doctor. And now telemedicine is poised to be a permanent fixture of employers’ health care strategies.

Willis Towers Watson found that by the end of 2023:

• 95% of employers expect to offer virtual care for medical and behavioral health issues,
• 61% of employers expect to offer lower cost-sharing for virtual care,
• 53% of employers expect the expansion of telemedicine to help decrease costs in the long run, and
• 50% believe virtual care will improve health outcomes for their employees.

Fortunately for employers, a number of companies have cropped up during the last few years that focus on delivering state-of-the art telemedicine platforms.

The takeaway

The pandemic has spurred many employers to prioritize their employees’ well-being, as well as look for ways to manage costs.

With competition for employees fierce, many employers are focused on reducing their staff’s share of costs, while also expanding mental health services in response to growing demand.

Meanwhile, telemedicine services are still evolving, a trend that’s likely to continue for the foreseeable future as health care providers, insurers and employers see it as a way to rein in some costs.

Telemedicine got a big boost during the COVID-19 pandemic, and now a number of states have been moving to ensure that health plan enrollees still have access to it and pay for it just as they would in-person visits.

During the pandemic, insurers agreed to pay for virtual visits just as they would for a face-to-face appointment, doctors who had been reluctant to try new technology embraced it as a way to limit patient exposure, and lawmakers loosened federal regulations that for years had restricted telemedicine’s use.

But more than two years into a public health emergency, some health insurers have begun to roll back their pandemic-era coverage policies or fallen into a pattern of extending coverage for only a few months at a time. There are now efforts in a number of states to require that health insurers cover telemedicine visits the same as face-to-face ones.

Thirty-one states mandate both coverage parity and payment parity. The language of the payment parity mandates differs by state. In eight of them, the mandated payment applies only to the deductibles, copayments and coinsurance faced by the insured. For example, in Texas, coinsurance, copayments and deductibles for telemedicine “may not exceed” those for the same service provided in person.

Other states mandate parity in how insurance plans reimburse providers. For example, in Arkansas and California, reimbursement for health care services provided via telemedicine must be “on the same basis as in-person services.”

Telemedicine improves outcomes, saves money

Recent studies have shown that telemedicine can yield significant savings for group health plans and covered employees — but only if the employees actually use it.

The main thrust of telemedicine is to give workers the option to talk to a health care provider over the phone or by video link about a health issue they may be having. Maybe waiting for an appointment slot to open with their doctor would take too long, or perhaps driving to the doctor’s office may be unfeasible for whatever reason.  

Experts say that allowing health plans to charge for telemedicine visits the same as they do for in-person visits can reduce the likelihood that an illness is left untreated, which increases treatment costs in the end, especially if they have to go to the emergency room for treatment.

Telemedicine benefits

Convenience — For many people it’s hard to take time out of the day to go to the doctor, particularly in areas where access to care is limited. For non-serious cases, telemedicine is a good option. If the physician or nurse feels that symptoms are serious, they can always ask the covered individual to come in for an appointment.

Cost savings — Just by its nature, telemedicine can save money, particularly for individuals who habitually go to ER or urgent care for routine services. Telemedicine can be marketed to employees as a much less expensive alternative for after-hours care.

Managing chronic illness — Telemedicine is ideal for workers with chronic conditions who may have a hard time getting to regular doctors’ appointments. Technology exists that can transmit health data from a patient’s home to a doctor’s office.

Addressing concerns

Many people are uneasy about working with a provider over a video link if they have had no prior patient relationship with them.

You can address these concerns by:

• Highlighting credentials of doctors in the telemedicine network.
• Working with us or your health insurer to try to change plan designs in order to eliminate copays for telemedicine.
• Setting aside a room at your offices where your staff can access telehealth services, particularly if they have chronic conditions that may need monitoring on a regular basis.
• Choosing the right vendor, which is crucial. Evaluate vendors based on patient satisfaction, the quality of the providers and the breadth of specialties available.