As home health care agencies look to find the best strategies to tackle wage parity regulations, there is an easily overlooked benefit they might be missing. While health insurance as a whole is a great benefit to keep employees healthy, employers can still go further and actually save much more.
In New York State, home health aides must go through a series of medical evaluations before starting a new job and annually once hired. These evaluations, such as a history & physical, TB test, and vaccinations, are designed to ensure only the basic health of the caregiver and the patients they care for.
A well designed wage parity plan can include these annual assessments by offering their employees a more comprehensive annual exam, which satisfies the state regulations, and offers the employee a deeper insight to their overall health. An annual exam that includes blood tests checking for glucose and cholesterol, can help identify situations before they become a serious disease.
But of course, many agencies were previously unable to afford such exams and opted just for the basic clearances. With a proper wage parity plan, employers can convert a routine annual clearance into a comprehensive annual exam with almost no additional cost. In fact, many will actually save money by reducing their overall occupational health costs.
Additional savings will also be realized by having less sick days, healthier more productive employees, and a workforce that is happy to have access to an annual assessment that teaches them more about their health. All of which can be achieved by less than 4% of wage parity contributions.
Occupational health centers such as Mobile Health are already being contracted by insurance agents and home health agencies to add comprehensive exams into their wage parity plans. Almost all who are utilizing this new concept are discovering the immediate savings and benefits to their employees and their bottom line.
