How to improve health and well-being benefits

If employers want their benefits to do the most good for employees, it’s time to think outside the box about how to encourage health and well-being.

Whether it’s helping employees pay off medical debt, or ensuring workers have access to healthy food options, physical health is top of mind for organizations Paytient and FarmBoxRx. Paytient provides an interest-free credit card employees can use to pay for medical expenses, reducing financial stress so employees can focus on getting better. And FarmBoxRx is tackling a persistent issue in the U.S.: access to healthy food. The company provides boxes of produce to people on Medicare and Medicaid, along with recipes and meal plans to help workers prioritize nutrition.

Having health insurance is not interchangeable with the ability to afford healthcare. Despite employers’ best intentions with their benefit offerings, the financial stress of medical expenses on today’s employees can be devastating to their well-being and work productivity. Fintech company Paytient is hoping to solve this issue with a health payment account through a Visa card that allows them to pay their out-of-pocket medical expenses upfront. Then, employees can pay off the card through a personalized, interest-free payment plan through the Paytient app.

“Paytient [allows folks] to walk in the door saying, ‘No matter what, I’m going to be able to swipe the card and make a payment plan that works best for me and my family’s budget,’” CEO and co-founder Brian Whorley tells editor Lee Hafner. “People share that if it weren’t for Paytient, [they] would not have gotten care for themselves or family members.”