NEW YORK, April 14, 2022 — Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) today released “Obesity, Diabetes and Racial Health Equity: What Employers Can Do,” a guide to help HR and benefit leaders develop and implement strategies aimed at achieving racial equity in obesity and diabetes prevention, treatment and outcomes.
Obesity and diabetes have long been top conditions of concern for employers because of their prevalence, connection to other serious illnesses, and high direct and indirect costs. People with obesity and diabetes have suffered complications and poor outcomes from COVID-19 at rates that highlight the need for employers to address these conditions in their employee populations with renewed focus. Black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) populations suffer from obesity and diabetes – and poor outcomes from these diseases -- in disproportionate numbers, making it critically important to pursue strategies aimed at reducing inequities in care and treatment.
.NEW YORK, February 15, 2022 — Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH), today released “Social Determinants of Health: A Guide for Employers,” to help HR and benefit leaders identify and address the health-related social needs of their employees and families.
Until recently, social determinants of health (SDOH) have been primarily linked with participants in public health insurance programs as well as those without health insurance. Now, more employers are focusing on healthcare disparities and their causes, both of which were brought into sharper focus as a result of the pandemic and movement for social justice. Additionally, employers are becoming increasingly aware that social factors such as where employees live, what food they have access to and how much money they make, are having a significant impact on their health.
.Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) and AARP have released a digital “Employer Caregiving Toolkit,” to help HR and benefit leaders better understand the demands on employees who are caregivers, the tangible, bottom-line benefits to supporting them, and specific steps they can take to help. The toolkit is a user-friendly expansion of their earlier work on caregiving, and includes an employer self-assessment, information and downloadable resources, and a guide to digital caregiving solutions.
Research shows more than one in six employees is balancing both work and caregiving obligations. Additionally, the vast majority of employers are interested in providing caregiving support for their employees, especially in the wake of COVID-19. The toolkit is the latest in a series of collaborative initiatives between NEBGH and AARP to help employers support the millions of family caregivers in the workplace.
“Employers were implementing benefits and programs to support employee-caregivers before COVID-19, but the pandemic really shined a light on the needs of those balancing work with caregiving responsibilities,” said Candice Sherman, CEO of NEBGH. “With the volume of employee-caregivers expected to continue growing, the need for employers to support them will only continue to increase as will the benefits to doing so, in terms of productivity, and employee attraction and retention. We believe this expanded, user-friendly toolkit with new features and functionality will help employers evaluate and expand their current offerings.”
The toolkit is comprised of three main sections. The first section allows employers to conduct a self-assessment survey that yields information on how employers are thinking about caregivers in the workplace and what they already have in place. Employers that complete the survey will be able to benchmark their own results against other employers.
The toolkit’s comprehensive resources section includes information to help employers learn about the benefits of creating a caregiving-friendly workplace and what polices and programs employers are implementing to support caregivers, boost productivity and attract and retain employees. Included are the results of a benchmarking survey of 117 U.S employers on caregiving and workplace issues, along with fact sheets, checklists and tips to give employers a basic foundation for developing caregiving policies and programs.
The third section – a guide to digital caregiving tools -- provides employers with a broad overview of the landscape and helps them find the solutions that will best meet the needs of their employee caregivers. Employers can easily compare the various features of the 24 tools contained in the guide. These features include but are not limited to information on backup caregiving, medication tracking, peer support groups, education materials, and vitals monitoring.
“Family and friends are the backbone of America’s care system,” said Robert Stephen, Vice President for Caregiving and Health at AARP. “The job of caregiving that family members do unpaid can be harder than a job in the paid workforce – and most caregivers are balancing both roles at the same time. We hope that this toolkit will help workplaces better support employee caregivers, and by doing so, enhance productivity and enable workers to keep up with their duties.”
The toolkit is free for employers and the public, and can be accessed here.
About Northeast Business Group on Health
NEBGH is an employer-led, multi-stakeholder coalition that empowers members to drive excellence in health and achieve the highest value in healthcare delivery and the consumer experience. NEBGH employer/purchaser members cover 6 million lives in the U.S. and 10 million globally.
Media Contact: Ed Emerman
609.240.2766
eemerman@eaglepr.com
Guide identifies action steps for employers to address in six major categories
NEW YORK, December 2, 2020 – Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) has released “Cancer Survivorship: Challenges and Opportunities for Employers,” a new guide to help HR and benefits leaders fully understand the complex issues associated with cancer survivorship and to create a workplace that supports people living with cancer and is productive for everyone.
Cancer is a relatively common disease in the U.S. Nearly four in ten men and women will be diagnosed with cancer at some point during their lifetime, according to some estimates. Cancer is also on the rise among millennials, who make up the largest generation in the U.S. workforce. At the same time, the number of cancer survivors in the U.S. is increasing steadily. It is estimated that by 2040, the number of cancer survivors in the U.S. will reach 26.1 million, a more than 50% increase compared with 2019.
“With a growing number of cancer survivors in the workforce, employers need to better understand and be equipped to help support them, given the challenges these employees may face,” said Candice Sherman, CEO of NEBGH. “Some people are unable to work due to treatment or the effects of treatment, but many are able to continue to work or to return to work after some period. In fact, most cancer survivors are eager to work because it provides a coping mechanism, enables a sense of purpose and motivation, boosts self-confidence, fosters social support and aids in financial stability.”
.Guide includes five-step action plan for employers
NEW YORK, September 23, 2020 – Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) has released “Workplace Weight Management in the New Normal,” a new guide to help HR and benefits leaders address overweight and obesity issues facing millions of employees. The release of the guide comes at a time when COVID-19 is disrupting many traditional onsite workplace weight management and wellness programs
Obesity is common and rising in prevalence. According to some estimates, nearly half of all U.S. adults are projected to be classified as obese by 2030. Studies show obesity is also costly to employers. Taking into account direct medical costs and indirect productivity costs including lost productivity, absenteeism, disability and workers’ compensation, obesity costs U.S. employers over $73 billion annually.
“Overweight and obesity are complex issues. There is no one, simple solution. COVID-19 has disrupted many workplace weight management and wellness programs, but as we grapple with a new normal now and for the foreseeable future, there are many opportunities to revamp and refresh programs and policies that help employees deal with weight-related issues,” said NEBGH CEO Candice Sherman. “Obesity has been identified as a significant risk factor for serious COVID-19 complications as well as for other conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Employers have an especially important role to play since their employees’ health and well-being – and that of their organization — are at stake,” said Sherman.
The guide, Workplace Weight Management in the New Normal, provides employers with a five-step action plan for reviewing and updating their programs. The action plan includes detailed information on how employers can: gain a better understanding of weight management challenges; assess what is and isn’t working with their programs; refresh management strategies and tactics; boost the likelihood of their program’s success, and evaluate outcomes.
Given the millions of employees working from home during the pandemic, an integral component of the guide is a list of over three dozen both on-site and work-from-home “environmental interventions” focused on healthy eating and physical activity. These include:
Work-from-home Interventions
On-site Interventions
The guide is available free of charge to all employers and the public at large, and can be accessed here.
About Northeast Business Group on Health
NEBGH is an employer-led, multi-stakeholder coalition that empowers members to drive excellence in health and achieve the highest value in healthcare delivery and the consumer experience. NEBGH employer/purchaser members cover 6 million lives in the U.S. and 10 million globally.
Media Contact:
Candice Sherman
212-252-7440 X 234
.NEW YORK, May 12 , 2020 — With demand for mental health services reaching unprecedented levels amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) and One Mind PsyberGuide today released “Digital Tools and Solutions for Mental Health,” a comprehensive employer guide that provides HR and benefits leaders with the information they need to assess and select digital mental health solutions for their employees
The global burden of mental health conditions is catastrophic and growing rapidly, and more so amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health conditions affect over a third of the world’s population with two — depression and anxiety — alone resulting in an estimated $1 trillion in lost economic productivity. For employers, the impact of mental health conditions on their organizations is substantial and ripples beyond the cost of care to include lost productivity, absenteeism and presenteeism.
“Digital technologies have the potential to revolutionize treatment for mental health conditions,” said Dr. Mark Cunningham-Hill, Medical Director at NEBGH. “These solutions can provide valuable new services that make mental health support more accessible and reduce barriers due to stigma. However, with the number of solutions and tools in the marketplace growing endlessly, selecting the best technology has become increasingly complex. We developed this resource guide to arm employers with the information they need to make the right decision for their organization and employees. With the country now in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic, the value of these tools that provide virtual solutions has increased exponentially.”
The guide, “Digital Tools and Solutions for Mental Health,” discusses in great detail the barriers that exist for accessing care for mental health conditions including cost and stigma. The guide lays out a strong business case on why employers should invest in and provide comprehensive mental health benefits to their employees, noting that mental health conditions is a leading cause of lost work days and that the return on investment is between $2 and $4 for every dollar spent on mental health.
One of the main components of the guide is a list of two dozen notable mental health digital solutions and their key features, including what conditions each tool targets (e.g. stress, depression, anxiety) and the types of intervention it offers (e.g. coaching, mindfulness meditation, clinical therapy). The resource includes a fact sheet on each solution as well as a summary of consumer facing mental health apps that employers may want to consider directing their employees toward. In addition, the guide features case studies of four major employers that have been experimenting with digital mental health solutions to help support employees address issues ranging from stress and sleep to overall wellbeing.
The guide also features a checklist of key considerations for employers when evaluating and selecting a digital mental health solution. These include but are not limited to:
“Employers are faced with a multitude of options when considering digital solutions for mental health” said Stephen Schueller, Executive Director of PsyberGuide and Assistant Professor of Psychological Science at the University of California, Irvine. “This often leads to pitch fatigue; employers are approached by various companies, and may not know what else is out there and what might be able to meet their needs. Our guide can help empower employers to select from these options and make an informed decision for their workplace."
Funding for the guide was provided by the Bowman Family Foundation, Aetna and Johnson & Johnson. The guide is free for employers and the public, and can be accessed here.
About Northeast Business Group on Health
NEBGH is an employer-led, multi-stakeholder coalition that empowers members to drive excellence in health and achieve the highest value in healthcare delivery and the consumer experience. NEBGH’s employer/purchaser members cover 6 million lives in the U.S. and 10 million globally.
About One Mind PsyberGuide
One Mind PsyberGuide is a non-profit whose goal is to help people use technology to live a mentally healthier life. Established in 2013 in response to a growing need for guidelines to help people navigate the mental health app marketplace, One Mind PsyberGuide’s aim is to help people make responsible and informed decisions about digital solutions for mental health by providing unbiased reviews. One Mind PsyberGuide operates at the University of California, Irvine, School of Social Ecology.
Media Contacts:
Candice Sherman
NEBGH
212.252.7440 ext. 234
csherman@nebgh.org
Andrea Helling
Rubenstein (For PsyberGuide)
ahelling@rubenstein.com
212.843.8025 (Desk)
406.369.0349 (Cell)
For Immediate Release
Two-year grant earmarked to help improve access to mental health and substance abuse care for New York City, Long Island and Westchester County residents
NEW YORK, April 27, 2020 – Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) announced today it has received a $150,000, two-year grant from the New York Community Trust to help improve behavioral health care access for individuals in New York City, Long Island and Westchester County with employer-sponsored health insurance.
The grant is earmarked for the first two years of NEBGH’s participation in The Path Forward for Mental Health and Substance Use, a five-year nationwide initiative led by the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychiatric Association Foundation Center for Workplace Mental Health and Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute. NEBGH will lead one of eight Regional Employer Stakeholder Engagement Teams to leverage the influence of their employer and other health care purchaser members to work with health plans, medical and behavioral health groups, consultants and brokers to combat this public health crisis.
“We are so grateful to receive this funding from the New York Community Trust, which will help enable our organization to fulfill our participation in this very important initiative to improve care for mental health and substance abuse disorders,” said Candice Sherman, CEO of NEBGH. “Amid the COVID-19 epidemic, the need for improved access to behavioral health services is at an all-time high and the emotional fallout from this crisis will be significant. Employers, working in collaboration with health plans, providers and other stakeholders, can play a significant role in improving the access to high-quality, high-value behavioral health care and bringing care for mental health and substance abuse to the same level of care afforded to physical medical care.”
During the first two years of the project, NEBGH will gather data, engage its employer members and develop a work plan to meet the Path Forward’s goal. Specifically, NEBGH will create a 16-member oversight group, develop a five-year operational plan, survey members to identify behavioral health access and payment challenges, collect actuarial studies and other publicly-available data on cost and provide availability, provide data and policy materials to support employers in health plan negotiations and conduct quarterly workshops to educate members on coverage disparities for behavioral health care.
“Despite longstanding parity laws mandating that Americans have the same access to behavioral health care as they do to physical health care, finding in-network mental health and substance abuse services is too difficult for millions with employer-purchased and self-insurance health coverage,” says Irfan Hasan, The Trust’s Program Director for Healthy Lives. “We’re funding Northeast Business Group on Health to work with coalitions across the country to fix this problem. While we planned to fund this project before New York became the U.S. epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of better access to affordable behavioral health services has never been more critical.”
Launched in late 2019, the Path Forward is a five-year plan to execute a disciplined, private sector approach to improve mental health and substance use care for Americans across the nation. Learn more about The Path Forward for Mental Health and Substance Use here.
About Northeast Business Group on Health
NEBGH is an employer-led, multi-stakeholder coalition that empowers members to drive excellence in health and achieve the highest value in healthcare delivery and the consumer experience. NEBGH’s employer/purchaser members cover 6 million lives in the U.S. and 10 million globally.
About The New York Community Trust
The New York Community Trust connects past, present, and future generous New Yorkers with vital nonprofits working to make a healthy, equitable, and thriving community for all. We are a public grantmaking foundation dedicated to improving the lives of residents of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island. For more information, visit us at nycommunitytrust.org.
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Media Contact:
Candice Sherman
212-252-7440 X 234
csherman@nebgh.org
For Immediate Release
NEW YORK, April 16, 2020 — Amid an ever-increasing rise in the number of employees shouldering caregiving responsibilities, U.S. employers were already making caregiving benefits one of their top priorities even before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a survey by Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH). The survey of 117 mostly large, U.S. employers found more than three quarter of respondents (79%) said caregiving will be an increasingly important issue over the next five years. The survey was conducted in late 2019 and early 2020.
Roughly one in six U.S. employees provides care for an ill or elderly family member. And more than a quarter of these employee-caregivers are millennials, many of whom may also have childcare responsibilities. These caregiving employees face many challenges including stress and anxiety, loneliness, higher incidences of certain medical conditions, and financial woes. The presence of caregivers in the workforce – whether working from home or in the office - also poses challenges for employers including absenteeism and presenteeism, reduced employee engagement and productivity, and higher health care costs.
“The challenges for employee-caregivers have increased exponentially as a result of the risk for COVID-19 among older and vulnerable people, social distancing requirements, and 24/7 childcare responsibilities” said Candice Sherman, CEO of NEBGH. “Employers are trying to increase support for caregiving employees by providing more back-up help, flexible working hours and access to expert resources, and some are providing relief funds to help with expenses.”
According to the survey, 61% of respondents said caregiving is a top priority for them. And while nearly half (45%) believe they are on par with similar organizations in developing caregiving-friendly benefits, almost a quarter (22%) see themselves as below or well below average, a clear sign there is much room for improvement.
The 2019/2020 Employer Benchmarking Survey is a follow-up survey to one NEBGH conducted in 2017. Key findings from the new survey include:
Financial support for the survey was provided by AARP. The survey report is available to employers and the public, and can be accessed here.
About Northeast Business Group on Health
NEBGH is an employer-led coalition of healthcare leaders and other stakeholders with the mission of empowering members to drive excellence in health and achieve the highest value in healthcare delivery and the consumer experience.
Media Contact:
Candice Sherman
NEBGH
212.252.7440 ext. 234
csherman@nebgh.org
Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) has released “Diabetes and Lower-Wage Workers,” a new employer guide to help HR and benefits leaders address the health care needs of lower-wage workers with diabetes and the rising costs associated with them.
More than 30 million Americans – roughly one in 10 – have diabetes, making it one of the most prevalent diseases in the U.S. Studies show the cost of diagnosed diabetes has reached $327 billion annually, with health costs for individuals with diabetes more than twice those without. Low socioeconomic status doubles the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, which is more common among racial and ethnic minorities and people who are less educated, and more likely those who are lower-wage earners.
.NEW YORK – December 12, 2019 – Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) has been selected to lead efforts in New York, northern New Jersey and southern Connecticut to improve mental health and substance use care. This is part of a transformative initiative called The Path Forward for Mental Health and Substance Use led by the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, American Psychiatric Association (APA), American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APAF) Center for Workplace Mental Health and Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute.
Launched last month, The Path Forward has embarked on a five-year plan to execute a disciplined, private sector approach to improve mental health and substance use care for Americans across the nation.
“We are very pleased that our organization has been selected to participate in this very important initiative to improve care for mental health and substance abuse disorders,” said Candice Sherman, CEO of NEBGH. “Employers, working in collaboration with health plans, providers and other stakeholders, can play a significant role in improving the access to high-quality, high-value behavioral health care and bringing care for mental health and substance abuse to the same level of care afforded to physical medical care.”
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