Apta Healthcare Blog

It's common for a client to ask their health insurance broker, “How can we get our employees more engaged?”. Savvy employers intrinsically know that engagement is a key component to how their employees utilize their benefits. They add incredible health program enhancements (point solutions) to their plan, get excited about the offering, talk about it during Open Enrollment meetings, and even send out marketing materials to remind their employees to utilize the available solutions. Then they wonder, “Why is nobody engaging?!”

Englewood, Colo., April 21, 2020

I was recently reading an article lamenting the increasingly isolated modern lives we lead. The author told the story by illustrating the changing ways in which we have come to consume entertainment.  For eons, people would go to a musical performance, an opera, or a play and watch live performers, all in a room together.  Then, you had the act of going to a movie in a theater or to a drive-in, the eyes of a community focused on one enormous silver screen.  With the advent and meteoric rise of television, it was the more intimate ritual of gathering around the boob-tube as a family to take in Dallas, M*A*S*H*, Seinfeld, or The Bachelor.  Now, in 2020, each person sits in different rooms of their home, each with their own portable device streaming YouTube, Netflix, or Hulu.  With every generation of technology, we have become more personalized, but also more isolated… less connected with the humans in our immediate proximity.

Have you ever given much thought to how loud the sun might be? Or, how loud it actually is? I love reading about our cosmos. Black holes, exoplanets, gravitational waves, particle colliders… it all makes my mind race and expand (kind of like the universe [even if we can’t agree on how fast it’s happening!]). But most of all, I like to think about our small place in it all, tucked away on this blue marble in the midst of nothing and everything, all at once.

Platinum Patients are outliers that make up a mere 5 percent of the population, but spend the same amount on healthcare as the remaining 95 percent combined. This means, if there was a cake offered to 100 people, 5 people would eat as much cake as 95 people.

Okay, so Platinum Patients must be the sickest 5 percent of the population and require a significant amount of care, right? Well, not necessarily.

Annual premiums for employer-sponsored family health coverage rose to $18,764 in 2017 — employees paid an average $5,714 out of pocket in premiums alone. Seems like a pretty outrageous cost for the mere security of everyday livelihood, doesn’t it? Well, guess what? The cost for employers and employees alike is projected to keep growing, with no end in sight.

Regardless of the millennial stereotypes that exist, some of which may or may not be true, one thing is for sure: millennials care about their health. Evidenced by the rise in popularity of health food retailers and gym memberships, it is safe to say millennials are striving to be the healthiest generation yet. This sentiment is reflected in what they have come to expect from their employee benefit packages.

Health insurance has lost its way. As a result of bureaucracy and corporate greed, the healthcare system is broken, and is costing employers and employees alike.

Company health insurance should give employees peace of mind — assurance that care is available whenever needed. It should provide companies a way to keep employees healthy and show that every individual’s best interest is a priority. In these areas and more, full-coverage health insurance falls short.

When you sign up for health insurance what value does it add to your life? Sure, it’s something we are required to have, but what do we really mean when we say the phrase “health insurance?”

Did you know the word “insurance” comes from the 16th century Old French word “ensurance?” This roughly translates to “assurance; safe and secure.” Now, do any of these words actually come to mind when you call your insurance company or face the bill after a procedure?

Didn’t think so.

Instead, common associations are probably more in line with “dread,” “terror,” or “not again.” How did we stray so far from the original intent of this word? Excuse my French, but what the health happened?

The uncertainty surrounding the future of healthcare in the United States has put many Americans on edge. The proposal to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and replace it with the Republican-sponsored American Health Care Act (or Better Care Reconciliation Act) is making people feel unsure, and possibly leaving many Americans uninsured.