Why high-quality employer-sponsored health insurance has the potential to increase Americans' life expectancy by 12 years?

A new report from Deloitte provides compelling information on how employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) can be a tool to improve health and longevity while reducing health care costs by a third. The report and its remarkable findings point to employer investments in mental health coverage, wellness programs and other preventive care.

According to Deloitte, robust employer-provided health insurance can increase average life expectancy by 12 years and average health expectancy - life expectancy in good health - by 19 years.

ESI is the most common source of health insurance in the United States. Employers use it to attract and retain employees, and employees are overwhelmingly satisfied with the quality and affordability of the coverage they receive.

A Deloitte study found that the average life expectancy for Americans is 77.9 years, and they only stay healthy for 65.9 years. However, effective ESI programs can increase average life expectancy to 90 years by 2024, and Americans can expect to be in good health for 95% of those years.

Since the pandemic, more employers are offering mental health, disease prevention and wellness services, and more employees are relying on these benefits. Increased use of these services, as well as other programs employers can offer to encourage healthy lifestyles, is key to increasing longevity and health, the Deloitte report predicts.

"Building on the impact that workforce health and productivity can have on organizational success, employers have a unique opportunity to take the lead in influencing health improvement more broadly," the study says.

Workers and consumers benefit from longer, healthier lives as well as lower health care costs. Another Deloitte study found that the same incentives and changes that would increase longevity would also reduce health care costs by about one-third. Strong ESI programs can steer patients away from more costly treatments by drawing them to more cost-effective prevention options, reducing costs by as much as $4 trillion.

The reports emphasize the need to "invest in employee initiatives such as increasing access to health care beyond offering health insurance, focusing on mental health, improving health literacy, providing financial literacy and wealth management, and encouraging and incentivizing healthy habits" - all areas in which ESI can offer additional high-quality employee benefits.

Employer-sponsored insurance can lead the way in these areas because of its flexibility. During the pandemic, many employers were able to add additional mental health and wellness programs relatively quickly to the coverage they offered employees. Being responsive to employee requests and changing needs is part of ESI's high satisfaction rate.

"Employers are increasingly responsible for creating a healthy and positive work environment that aims to improve employees' physical, mental, social and emotional health both on and off the job," the report said.

Strengthening ESI benefits both employers through increased retention and productivity and employees through longer, healthier lives. Expanding access to these high-quality, affordable health plans can help increase life expectancy by more than a decade and give Americans back nearly two decades of their lives with improved health.

Protecting America's Coverage Together (PACT)

Protecting Americans' Coverage Together (PACT) is a coalition of leading business leaders advocating for stronger ESI support for families who depend on the system for their physical and mental well-being. Its members include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, National Association of Manufacturers, Council for Affordable Health Insurance, and Vermeer Corporation.