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For Sandwich Generation, Much To Chew On
WALLINGFORD — If the term "summit" suggests a high-level, high-stakes confab at which momentous decisions are made and agreements forged,
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Business New Haven
6/23/2003
By: Michael C. Bingham
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WALLINGFORD - If the term "summit" suggests a high-level, high-stakes confab at which momentous decisions are made and agreements forged, then June 17's "regional health-care summit" at Masonicare's leafy Wallingford campus didn't quite measure up.
Instead, the event, sponsored by the Healthcare Council of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, was less about decision-making and more about sharing ideas and anecdotes about how businesses large and small can cope with soaring health-insurance costs and the greying of the baby-boom generation.
Linda A. Masci, vice president and general manager of Connecticut operations for Anthem Blue Cross & Blue Shield, said she could relate to the professional and personal challenges confronting members of the "sandwich" generation: As mother of two adult children as well as caregiver for her own 87-year-old mother, she personifies the "baloney" in the middle of the sandwich, she said.
Masci said that between seven and 12 percent of all U.S. workers have daily involvement in caring for an aging relative; many of those who can't balance that burden with a challenging career are forced to quit the workforce, creating an unnecessary "brain drain," Masci said.
Combined with workers who stay on the job but at a cost of higher absenteeism and lower productivity, the overall annual "sandwich" cost to the U.S. economy is $17 billion, she said.
Masci urged employers to create formal employee assistance programs to help workers balance often-conflicting career and life challenges.
In an ensuing panel session, Neysa Stallman-Guerino, executive director of the South-Central Connecticut Agency on Aging, advised attendees caring for an older loved one to keep abreast of changes in Medicare laws. "Medicare does not cover everything; it is not intended to be
comprehensive," she said. She also recommended exploring the option long-term care insurance before a chronic health issue surfaces. Then, she noted, it may well be too late to afford or even obtain such coverage.
John McGrath, vice president of Marsh Advantage America's Connecticut practice, quantified the run-up in health-insurance costs, which on average now cost businesses in the Northeast about $6,000 per employee each year, he said. Escalating premiums are driven by medical advances, rising provider expenses and increased consumer demand, he added.
Among the ways business are responding to annual premium increases of 15 to 20 percent: shifting more of the cost onto employees; offering "high" and "low" benefit options; and creating Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) for workers.
Susan Rietano Davey, partner in the Greenwich firm Flexible Resources, discussed how companies could make it easier for employees caring for an aging or sick loved one: offering a "permanent" part-time option, reduced hours, job-sharing, telecommuting, compressed work weeks. She encouraged managers to think of such measures "not as an accommodation, but as an agreement that will benefit both parties."
About 150 people attended the event.
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