How to Get Employees to Use Their Preventive Care

The article below was published on July 21, 2016 by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, written by Brenda Hofmann.

Preventive care is vital to keep your employees healthy. The more employees take advantage of available preventive care, the more cost-effective their care becomes. They stay healthy, you save on health care costs—It’s a win-win for employees and employers.

You know that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that health plans cover recommended preventive services at no cost to the individual, but do your employees? If you’re not already doing so, consider communicating to your workforce the free preventive care benefits that are available to them.

You may want to adjust the language to best fit your plan or workforce, but here are some samples of communication to get you started:

Take Advantage of Free Preventive Care

Who: You! Men, women and children are all covered.

What: Depending on your age, you may have access to—at no cost to you—preventive services such as:

• Blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol tests
• Many cancer screenings, including mammograms and colonoscopies
• Counseling on topics such as quitting smoking, losing weight, eating healthfully, treating depression and reducing alcohol use
• Regular well-baby and well-child visits, from birth to age 21
• Routine vaccinations against diseases such as measles, polio and meningitis
• Counseling, screening and vaccines to ensure healthy pregnancies

See the full list at Healthcare.gov.

When: Now. These preventive services are already covered under our plan.

Where: Preventive services are free when delivered by an in-network doctor.

Why: Preventive care screening can detect disease in the early stages when it is most treatable. Following preventive care guidelines, along with the advice of your doctor, can help you stay healthy.

How: Know what’s considered preventive care and review the guidelines. For example, although a colonoscopy is a preventive care screening, it’s only covered for people aged 50 or older. Additionally, colonoscopies that are done to evaluate specific problems are usually classified as diagnostic procedures (not screenings) and are not covered.

Avoid unexpected costs by clearly stating when you make your appointment that your visit is for a covered preventive care service. For example, if you’re making your well-woman visit on the phone, say “I’m making an appointment for my free preventive care well-woman visit.”

Also, medical complaints aren’t preventive. If you discuss other issues with your doctor, the visit is no longer preventive and you’ll be charged a fee. For example, if during your well-woman visit, your doctor does blood work for thyroid problems you are having, these additional services won’t be covered under free preventive care. Don’t hesitate to ask your doctor whether screenings he or she recommends will cost you.