While offering medical coverage to
prospective and current employees is an important attraction and retention tool for employers, it is far from
the only health-related benefit that employees are looking for. After medical coverage,
dental coverage is always cited as one of
the most sought-after employee benefits.
For employers looking to offer both of
these benefits to employees, but are also
looking to manage the costs, there is an
innovative new approach that can both
provide improved benefits for employees
— keeping them healthier and more productive — and also cut medical costs for
the employer.
“While it is great to offer both medical
and dental coverage, employers are likely
to see better results if they offer an integrated medical/dental program,” says Bill
Berenson, vice president of sales and service for Aetna’s Small & Middle Market
Business in the North Central Region.
“These programs emphasize the connection between oral health and overall health,
which helps to keep employees healthier,
and they also can help employers manage
the cost of care in a variety of ways.”
Smart Business spoke with Berenson,
who answered some basic questions about
dental and medical integration (DMI) programs and the positive impact they can
have for employees and employers.
How would a DMI program help improve
employee health?
There is a strong connection between
oral health and overall well-being. By having a DMI program, employers are recognizing this connection, which is likely to
result in more well-rounded treatment for
the employee population.
Which employees would benefit most from
an integrated plan like this?
Our research has shown that individuals
with certain conditions — such as diabetes, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease (stroke) and even pregnant
women — may see the most significant
benefit from earlier dental and periodontal
care, which is more likely in an integrated
program.
A recent study showed that individuals
with these conditions who accessed dental
care earlier lowered the risk or severity of
their respective conditions, and subsequently lowered their overall medical
costs.
Is employee outreach an important part of
these types of programs?
While offering these programs to employees is an important first step, it is also
extremely important to educate employees
about the potential benefits they could see.
This employee outreach and increase in
awareness should attempt to motivate at-risk employees to seek appropriate dental
care.
In an educational pilot with 500,000 members starting in 2003, we found that approximately 57 percent of those at-risk members who received education sought subsequent dental care. This high responsiveness indicates a willingness of employees
to seek care if they are informed about it.
How does this lead to improved employee
productivity?
Employees miss millions of hours a work
each year for dental-related illnesses or
dental visits, and that number increases for
employees who are parents and have to
miss time for their children’s dental
appointments. An enhanced dental benefit
program can help decrease this employee
absenteeism by making it more likely for
an employee to receive care earlier. This
can also decrease ‘presenteeism,’ which is
when an employee is at work but is not
performing to his or her fullest capabilities.
How would an employer see cost savings
from a program like this?
There are several areas where an employer would see savings from a DMI program.
By having both medical and dental coverage with the same insurer, administrative
costs are likely to decrease. Also, in certain
cases where a customer has both medical
and dental coverage with the same insurer,
these types of integrated programs are
actually offered for free.
In addition, the improved health of
employees, especially those with certain
chronic conditions, can also create savings
in health care costs.
Enhanced employee attraction and retention, better overall employee health (leading to improved productivity) and health
care cost savings – these are all potential
results of an integrated medical and dental
program, and they are reasons this type of
program should be strongly considered as
part of the solutions to any company’s
health care process.
BILL BERENSON is vice president of sales and service for
Aetna’s Small & Middle Market Business in the North Central
Region. Reach him at (312) 928-3323 or [email protected].
