Employee health costs total $8,000 per year
May 1, 1999 less than 1 minute read
Employee health costs total $8,000 per year
The typical employer spends about $8,000 each year on each employee’s health care costs, with workers’ compensation accounting for about 5% of that total, according to the most recent findings of a landmark study.
The study involved a survey of 17 major firms, with these results:
The median cost for health and productivity was $8,621 per employee in 1997.The largest expenditure was $5,003 for health care expenses, including insurance, which accounted for 58%.
Turnover expenses were $1,897 or 22%.
Unscheduled absences were $698 or 8%.
Non-occupational disability costs were $630 or 7%.
Workers’ compensation expenditures were $393 or 5%.
The total cost for all health care-related expenses for the 17 firms, which had 600,000 employees, was $4.9 million in 1997.
Employers can reduce those costs by using health management programs in the workplace, especially those applying "best practice" strategies, the researchers conclude. Such workplace wellness programs can reduce per-employee costs by $1,567 or 18%, they say. Also, the researchers note that simply tracking employee health costs can spur cost savings.
The ongoing study is being conducted by the Medstat Group, a health care consulting group in Ann Arbor, MI, and the American Productivity and Quality Center, a nonprofit quality improvement organization in Houston.
[For more information, contact:
Ron Webb at the American Productivity and Quality Center. Telephone: (713) 685-4634. E-mail: [email protected].
Ron Goetzel, Medstat Group. Telephone: (202) 686-7750. E-mail: [email protected].]
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content