Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeHealthcareCancer overtakes musculoskeletal disease as most expensive disease for large employers

Cancer overtakes musculoskeletal disease as most expensive disease for large employers


Cancer has overtaken musculoskeletal disorders as the leading disease driving up employer health care costs, a new survey finds.

The investigation was conducted by Health business group From May 31 to July 13, including 135 large employers, covering 18.3 million people in the United States. Of the select companies, 73% have more than 10,000 employees. The annual survey has been conducted since 2005.

This year, 83 percent of employers said cancer was the disease that caused the most health care costs, while 76 percent said musculoskeletal disorders, the report found. By 2021, 80% of people said cancer and 84% said musculoskeletal disorders when determining which diseases were the most expensive to care for. Even more concerning, 13% of employers said they were finding more advanced cancers among their employees, and 44% said they expected an increase in advanced cancers in the future.According to one expert, it may be because of delays in care due to the pandemic Press Releases.

“As a result, for the first time in the history of this survey, cancer overtook musculoskeletal disease as the largest cost driver,” Brenna Shebel, vice president of business group health, said in a Tuesday news release. “Musculoskeletal is still driving costs, but … it’s been quite a turnaround this year.”

To address the cost of cancer, 50% of employers say they will offer access to cancer centers of excellence in 2023, and another 26% are considering offering access in 2025. Center of Excellence A program within a medical facility that has expertise and resources in a certain area of ​​medicine. They are known for delivering good patient outcomes. Not only does the company offer a center of excellence, but it also encourages employees to take care of them through incentives such as travel reimbursement, Shebel said.

“The most common incentive or encouragement is reimbursement or payment for travel and lodging,” Shebel said. “So when employees do go to a center of excellence, they’re in a very relaxed mood and they don’t have to pay for travel and lodging.”

Among employers, 32% said they would cover genomic testing for cancer treatment in 2023, and 14% said they were considering 2025. Additionally, 11% said they would cover a multi-cancer early detection blood test in 2023, but the survey did not provide some who would consider it.

Other conditions driving up employer health insurance costs this year include cardiovascular disease at 30%, diabetes at 28%, high-risk maternal/neonatal intensive care unit at 18%, mental health at 17%, Covid-19 at 10%, gastroenterology at 10% 7%, substance use disorders 2% and HIV/AIDS 1%.

Photo: CGToolbox, Getty Images



Source link

RELATED ARTICLES

Most Popular

Recent Comments