US Companies Lose $150 Billion Per Year When Sick Employees Come to Work
According to Harvard Business Review, US companies lose $150 billion per year when sick employees come to work. They call this "preenteeism" and the loss amounts to reduced productivity of the the sick employee at the workplace. Many of these illnesses are minor - asthma, colds, headaches. Some are even more debilitating such as arthritis, diabetes, migraines, etc. What is interesting is that the study identifies that companies have been able to demonstrate increases in overall productivity when they invest (or SPEND MONEY) to provide employees with the proper medications and treatment. For example, the article cites the case of Pitney-Bowes who in 2001 sought to REDUCE health care costs. They did this by REDUCING co-payments for allergy and diabetes drugs. They found that the direct costs of treating these invididuals actually FELL 10%. Why? Because patients were more likely to take the more affordable drugs more regularly. Here's the problem - aren't we all now trying to sell our employees on this new "self directed health care" nonsense. So we'll give them big deductibles so they make intelligent health care decisions. Hmmm. I think HBR is on to something. Let's check back in a few years and see where our health care costs have gone. We may be ultimately lowering our short term costs yet have sicker employees and a corresponding drop in productivity.