Dr. Monte Masten and Rick Kelly featured in BenefitsPRO
With influences like shifting employment trends, deferred utilization, and pressures on unit costs, health care economics are getting more complex. As a result, organizations are searching for information and strategies critical to addressing these strains.
BenefitsPRO covered the recent webinar led by Rick Kelly, Senior Vice President of Employee Health and Benefits, and Dr. Monte Masten, Chief Medical Officer. They discussed the trend of health care economics in the 2023 Employee Health & Benefits (EH&B) Report and what employers may expect for health benefit costs in 2023.
“During the height of the pandemic, around 2021, there was an 80% decrease in people getting colonoscopies,” Dr. Masten said. “There was a 70% decrease in women getting cervical cancer screenings or pap smears, and there was almost a 55% drop in mammographies. So the big question still out there that is going to impact everyone from a benefits perspective is if we are going to see over the next few years more late-stage cancers being diagnosed, which are going to be more difficult and expensive to treat.”
