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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Kevin Hawkins, PhD, Senior Economist, Outcomes Research & Econometrics, The MEDSTAT Group, 777 E Eisenhower Pkwy, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, 734-913-3145, Kevin.Hawkins@medstat.com, Ron Goetzel, PhD, Vice President of Consulting and Applied Research, The MEDSTAT Group, 4301 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 330, Washington, DC 20008, and Ronald Ozminkowski, PhD, Director of Outcomes Research & Econometrics, The MEDSTAT Group, 777 E Eisenhower Pkwy, Ann Arbor, MI 48108.
Objective: To estimate the most costly health and disease conditions affecting medical, absenteeism, short term disability (STD) and workers’ compensation (WC) expenditures. Methods: The MEDSTAT Group’s Health and Productivity Management Database, composed of medical, pharmacy, STD, absence, and WC claims for 340,000 employees and their dependants was utilized. The MEDSTAT Episode Grouping software product was used to classify and organize inpatient, outpatient, and pharmaceutical claims temporally, so they were all connected to the treatment of any given health condition. Absence and STD claims also associated with that particular clinical episode were then combined. Because large portions of WC data were incomplete, health related episodes of care involving WC claims were analyzed separately. The most costly physical and mental health conditions were then ranked by their overall combined medical, pharmacy, absence and STD expenditures. Results: Across all physical health conditions, employers paid an average of $1,848 per eligible employee for group health (53% of total), $399 per employee for STD (11% of total), and $1,254 per employee in absence (36% of total). When considering per eligible payments for mental health conditions, $68 (39% of total) was paid through group health benefits, $28 (16% of total) was paid through STD programs, and $80 (45% of total) was as a result of employee absence from work. Conclusions: An analysis of the cost burden of physical and mental health conditions affecting American businesses revealed that about half of all expenditures are attributable to the company’s group health experience, while the balance is due to costs associated with worker absence and STD associated with a specific disease or condition.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participants in this session will be able to
Keywords: Workforce, Occupational Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Study funded by Eli Lilly and Company