Repayment benefits are increasing employees' access to care

• Key Insight: Discover how repayment benefits are reframing "coverage" into actionable healthcare access for employees.
• What's at Stake: Rising deferred care threatens workforce productivity, retention, and escalating employer healthcare expenses.
• Supporting Data: 40% of employer-insured Americans delay or skip care due to out-of-pocket costs.
  Source: Bullets generated by AI with editorial review

As healthcare costs climb, more employees are delaying care or taking financial risks to keep up with medical bills. 

According to healthcare technology and financial services company Paytient's recent "Hidden Lives of Workplace-Insured Americans" report, 40% of people with employer-sponsored health insurance are still delaying or skipping care because of out-of-pocket costs. Among them, 38% say their health is actively worsening while they wait. Expanding coverage to include repayment programs and platforms is going to be crucial to improving both healthcare access and affordability. 

"These are people who have insurance," said Iveta Brigis, chief people officer at Paytient. "Coverage is no longer the same as access, and that distinction [should] matter just as much to employers as it does to employees."

Read more: Employees want more control over their health plan. Are ICHRAs the answer?

Currently, 56% of workplace-insured Americans are either delaying filling prescriptions, splitting pills to make them last, or they simply don't fill them, according to the survey. Forty-one percent are reaching for high-interest credit cards to cover bills and 40% are choosing to drain their savings to pay for treatments.That kind of financial stress doesn't stay at the door when they walk into work, Brigis said. In fact, Paytient''s research found that employees forced to delay care lose an average of 6.3 hours of productivity per week due to distractions. Employees are physically present at their jobs, Brigis said, but they're not mentally present.

Paytien's survey was based on responses from 1,516 participants and was supplemented by six months of in-home qualitative research and interviews with experts across the healthcare industry.

"So when we talk about the healthcare affordability crisis, it's not just a personal finance story, it's a workforce performance story," Brigis said. "The two are completely inseparable."

Investing in a new approach

This is where repayment benefits such as Paytient aim to offer their services. Instead of employees having to pay large out-of-pocket healthcare costs all at once, employers offer workers access to a Paytient Visa card that can be used for eligible healthcare expenses such as doctor visits, prescriptions, dental care, vision services, mental health treatment and medical equipment. When a member uses the card, Paytient covers the upfront cost and then allows the member to repay the balance over time through interest-free installments. 

Read more: Workers feel financial stress at work, cut back on benefits

The goal is to reduce the financial barriers that often prevent people from seeking care, filling prescriptions, or following treatment plans. Paytient's report found that 78% of Paytient users got care they would have otherwise skipped or delayed. Brigis shared the story of a colleague whose husband was injured during a workplace accident. The couple took advantage of the payment plan to manage their costs so they could both focus on healing. 

"That is exactly what we set out to give people — the ability to be fully in a moment of crisis without a financial crisis running alongside it," Brigis said. "Solutions that address cost of care are not a nice-to-have anymore. They're filling a genuine gap that your current health plan alone cannot fill."

Rethinking the outlook on healthcare

There are many other ways organizations can address this issue before investing in repayment benefits and options. To begin, Brigis said employers should start by challenging the assumption that offering health insurance automatically means employees have access to healthcare. 

Research shows a significant gap between having coverage and being able to use it, making it important for benefit leaders to understand and keep track of whether employees are taking care of themselves like attending preventive visits and going through with treatment plans. Organizations should be evaluating their benefits through the lens of affordability, not just the breadth of coverage, Brigis said. 

Read more: Healthy workers are ditching company insurance to save $1,000 a month

"What that does psychologically [for employees] is just as important as the mechanics," Brigis said. It removes the moment of question of 'can I afford this right now?' that causes people to put off care."

Ultimately, according to Brigis, addressing this issue is about timing. Being proactive now about broadening healthcare benefits to include repayment is going to yield the best long-term results.

"Organizations that implement these frameworks now can stabilize claims and improve retention," Brigis said. "Those that delay will simply continue to absorb the escalating costs of deferred care and turnover."