American employers are seeing extensive mental health effects on their workers as a result of Covid, according to a new study.
A startling 77 percent of employers in the 2024 Large Employer Health Care Strategy Survey from the Business Group on Health (BGH) said they were seeing increased mental health issues, including depression, anxiety and substance use disorders, which they ascribed to Covid. Also, 30 percent of the employers saw increased challenges to access because of medical care labor issues, including turnover, burnout and nurse shortages.
Also downstream from Covid, 28 percent of the employers saw an increase in medical services due to worsening population health (for example, higher obesity rates), 21 percent saw higher chronic condition management needs, 21 percent had higher disability claims, and 18 percent saw higher prevalence of late-stage cancers due to delayed screenings.
Finally, 10 percent of employers said increased health issues among employees because of long Covid, while 23 percent said they anticipate impact, and 39 percent said they do not anticipate seeing impact from long Covid.
