Already ranked as the most important employee benefit an organization can offer its workers, health-related benefits have taken on even greater significance since the onset of COVID-19, according to the 2022 SHRM Employee Benefits Survey. As shown in the graph below, 88% of surveyed employers consider health benefits “Very” or “Extremely Important”… up from 75% in 2019.

Other survey findings:

  • Nearly all organizations (98%) offer some type of health coverage, About one-quarter of respondents say they currently offer a self-funded plan.
  • 93% of organizations indicated that they offer telemedicine or telehealth as a benefit to their workers, up 20% since 2019. Also up: mental health coverage, with 91% of organizations now offering it.
  • Flexible spending accounts (FSAs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) continue to be the most popular type of health-related spending accounts, with 63% and 57% of employers offering them, respectively.

If you’re a SHRM member, the association also offers an online, interactive benchmarking tool to compare your organization’s benefits against those surveyed.