Dive Brief:
- Most chief financial officers are deeply involved in their company’s health benefits decision-making, but are doing so without data to determine whether those benefits are achieving their goals, according to a survey of CFOs conducted by the Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI).
- The IBI, a national, nonprofit research and educational organization supported by more than 1,150 member companies representing over 20 million workers, found that a solid majority (85%) of CFO respondents reported that they play a role in making decisions about their company’s health benefits, but only 6% reported that their company assesses the ROI of its health benefits and just 23% make any performance assessment at all.
- The findings of the new CFO survey are particularly striking given that nearly half (43%) of respondents said the finance function of their company participates in health benefits decision-making as an equal partner with other functions (such as HR).
Dive Insight:
In fact, 15% reported that the finance function makes all or most health benefits decisions. More than half (53%) of CFOs agreed that linking performance to business metrics would help them make better benefits decisions.
But even with a lack of performance data, nearly all CFO respondents reported that their company offers health benefits, such as wellness programs, disability leave and coverage of specialty pharmaceuticals. Few reported plans to cut back or eliminate these benefits.
IBI President Dr. Thomas Parry says the results are not surprising. It’s not that companies don’t see the advantage in assessing their programs, it’s that the typical metrics—ROI, for example—don’t necessarily capture what companies are trying to accomplish with their benefits in the first place.
“A company’s commitment to health benefits reflects its business strategy and its corporate value system," he says. "The value of benefits needs to be assessed in those terms, as well as in dollars."
