Because of the important role health plays in all aspects of our lives, many feel more needs to be done to address the crisis of healthcare inequality for children. In addition to poor fitness and nutrition, a lack of proper healthcare also contributes to these children’s conditions. Unfortunately, the number of children with health coverage in the U.S. declined for the third consecutive year in 2019, according to census data—and that was during a period of economic growth. The pandemic also ushered in sweeping job losses that cost many families their health coverage, with certain parts of the country feeling the impact more than others.

According to a report by the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, Texas and Florida were among the states with a more pronounced loss of health insurance for children. The report also highlighted the fact that Latino children were disproportionately affected.

With nearly 4.4 million children uninsured as of 2019, the pandemic’s fallout is still ongoing and is yet known. It appears the future health of the American population is at risk unless families at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder can find a solution to the healthcare crisis. Here we’ll examine the importance of addressing care inequality for children and how to eliminate the disparities.

What happens when we ignore the problem?

According to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), millions of infants, children, and adolescents in the United States do not receive essential clinical preventive services. The report revealed large disparities in the receipt of clinical preventive services between insured and uninsured children. Hispanic children were also less likely than non-Hispanic children to have reported vision screenings.

Preventive healthcare services delivered by primary care physicians support healthy development in children. Because primary care is the foundation for good health, these services prevent and detect conditions and diseases in their earlier, more treatable stages and significantly reduce the risk of illness, premature death, disability, and expensive medical care in the future.

Newborns and children usually see doctors more than adults because their needs change as they grow. According to the CDC, 32 percent of children’s visits to the doctor are for preventive care. Without access to essential healthcare services and screenings, sick children become even sicker adults with chronic conditions and other illnesses that could have been prevented.

Primary Care Providers Promote Wellness in Children

Primary care doctors care for adults and younger patients, including well-child visits and vaccinations, and provide care for illnesses, injuries, and other disorders. Having one doctor who tends to the whole family’s needs can be especially helpful when family members share the same health issues. Understanding your family’s health history and learning how to course-correct is invaluable, but when so many can’t afford health coverage, is this a luxury reserved only for affluent families? Not anymore.

Even when employees are fortunate enough to have health coverage through their employer, many can’t afford to cover their dependents. Premiums escalate for every family member added to a health plan. Because of the cost, many are forced to choose between keeping their lights on or providing healthcare for their children. For this reason, many have turned to direct primary care (DPC).

DPC is an affordable option for employees, but it can also be implemented as a dependent-only alternative. The employee can keep their employer-paid plan and choose primary care and chronic disease management for their spouse and children at an affordable monthly rate.

Significant Benefits for a Small Cost

Considering eighty percent¹ of annual healthcare services can be addressed through a family physician, Direct Primary Care is comprehensive. Since DPC isn’t health insurance, there are no expensive monthly premiums, deductibles to meet, or costly copays. The member, or their employer, pays a low monthly fee for a healthcare membership that includes unlimited primary care office visits, telehealth, and virtual care for little-to-no out-of-pocket costs. Direct primary care providers like Healthcare2U even offer DPC memberships for employees that have been laid off or furloughed.

With a nationwide network of primary care providers, they’ve also eliminated geographic barriers to care. So regardless of where people live, they can get primary care and preventive screenings for their families at a very affordable cost.

It’s vitally important for employees to understand the scope of their health and their children’s health. Staff can’t function at their best when they are sick or worried about a sick child who can’t get needed care. By providing an affordable alternative like direct primary care, employers can provide peace of mind for employees and reap the rewards of productivity and increased employee morale.

If you’d like more information on implementing DPC to end care inequality for children and employer groups nationwide, contact Healthcare2U for more details.

¹ Andrew Bazemore, MD, MPH, Stephen Petterson, PhD, Lars E. Peterson, MD, PhD, Richard Bruno, MD, MPH, Yoonkyung Chung, PhD, Robert L. Phillips Jr, MD, MSPH, “Annals of Family Medicine: Higher Primary Care Physician Continuity is Associated With Lower Costs and Hospitalizations,” 2018, 493

A recent study found 79 percent of small business owners worry about the costs of healthcare. Fifty-nine percent also believe that an increase in insurance premiums will make it challenging to continue providing healthcare benefits for employees. Another 47 percent lament that the costs of health insurance limit their abilities to offer raises or bonuses.

When it comes to business operations, small businesses work differently than larger companies. Limited financial and human resources force them to operate from a different perspective. Owners must find creative solutions for day to day operations, customer service, human resources, and company culture.

Success hinges upon their ability to build a highly functioning team of qualified individuals who wear multiple hats. Recruiting and retaining the best talent is often tricky because smaller budgets mean smaller salaries. Employees in these situations value a company culture that makes them feel provided for and appreciated. An integral part of that culture is a benefits package with meaningful health coverage.

The Problem with Traditional Options

Businesses with less than 50 employees don’t have to provide healthcare, but most employers know that health benefits are what potential employees are looking for. A survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute acknowledged that workers overwhelmingly consider health insurance to be the most critical workplace benefit.

Because of health insurance’s financial burden, some small businesses choose self-funded plans where they pay health claims out of pocket rather than a fixed insurance premium. This choice can be risky business as it exposes the company to the risk of extensive bills in the event of a catastrophic employee health crisis. To avoid the potential for bankruptcy, many companies take on the additional cost of stop-loss insurance to mitigate the risks.

Small group plans are often expensive, non-customizable, and come with yearly premium increases. And because employees are all part of the same risk pool, even one indisposed employee leads to higher prices.

For the small businesses who want to offer a health plan, a high deductible health plan (HDHP) is one option. While coverage is available, employees often feel they can’t afford to use the plan because of out-of-pocket costs. Having to meet a high deductible before coverage kicks in is difficult for most families. A recent survey found that nearly 25 percent of Americans skipped medical care over the past year because of costs.

Affordable Solutions for Employers and Employees

Because Direct Primary Care (DPC) is a no-claims healthcare membership, DPC protects employers’ health plans by diverting claims for acute care, chronic disease management, and urgent care away from health plans and into the DPC environment. For example, employers who incorporate DPC into their level funded or ASO plans reduce their odds of exceeding claims allowances and increasing rates the following year. Because there are no claims for care provided by DPC providers, employers can give their employees affordable access to primary care to maintain health and manage chronic diseases without the impact of those claims hitting their plan. Additionally, diseases managed in the early stages through DPC can potentially save the company from more expensive shock claims due to those conditions not being managed.

Small employers can stand out from competitors by offering affordable DPC to 1099 employees, part-time workers, full-time staff, and dependents. To attract and retain the most qualified contractors and employees, companies must think outside the box to provide top-notch healthcare. DPC gives the uninsured benefits they want while protecting their employer’s bottom line.

Employees Want to Know They Matter

With DPC, members pay a low monthly fee for unlimited primary care visits instead of paying monthly insurance premiums. There are no expensive copays or deductibles to meet, and plans also include telemedicine, virtual visits, and prescription discounts. DPC can also be offered alongside a self-funded plan or HDHP as a gap solution.

Providing affordable and easily accessible healthcare is a logical step toward improving employees’ health, who may be more likely to embrace preventive screenings and care. One could also conclude that healthier employees with an option like DPC are less likely to be burdened by financial stress. Feeling valued, enjoying minimal healthcare costs, and self-care are likely to boost attendance, productivity, and profits for any small business.

According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, there are nearly 30 million small businesses in the United States, employing 47.8 percent of workers. To learn how to bring direct primary care to this enormous market, download more information on Healthcare2U’s Direct Primary Care (DPC) Membership.

Research suggests the best way to navigate a pandemic, work, family stress, and social unrest is to have as much fun as you possibly can. It may sound counterintuitive or even selfish, but not doing so can be detrimental to your health and mental well-being. Recreational deprivation is linked to criminality, obesity, lack of creativity, anxiety, and depression. Here we’ll explore three reasons you should have as much fun as possible.

Play Teaches People to Cope Without Violence

Stuart Brown is the founder and president of the U.S. National Institute for Play and author of Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul (2009). As a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine in the 1960s, his study of 26 young male murderers helped him identify the vital importance of play in children and adults’ lives.

Brown and his colleagues found that a history of physical abuse and play deprivation played a significant role in these young men’s lives. His further studies revealed regular play was virtually absent throughout the lives of highly violent, antisocial men, regardless of demographic. They concluded the subjects would have been better able to cope with life’s vicissitudes without recourse to violence had they been allowed to play with other children growing up.

On the flip side, highly successful and creative people demonstrated a history of regular social play—a vital part of healthy development. Children learn social competency, curiosity, resilience, and emotional intelligence through play experiences throughout their lives.

Social Fun Mitigates Anxiety and Depression

Socializing and participating in physical activities are healthier coping strategies to manage depression or anxiety than drinking alcohol or dwelling on negative feelings. Exercise and physical activity can also give you the chance to meet or socialize with others.

Dancing, team sports, or working out with a friend can all release feel-good endorphins, natural cannabis-like brain chemicals (endogenous cannabinoids), and other natural brain chemicals that can elevate your sense of well-being.

Finding creative ways to take your mind off worries is paramount to ending the cycle of negative thoughts that feed depression and anxiety. Spending time laughing with friends new and old can lighten any mood, whether in person or through technology.

Playing Games is Good for Your Brain

In addition to regular physical exercise and a healthy diet, researchers have found fun activities can help reduce the risk of future cognitive decline. Participating in activities that stimulate the mind, such as reading, writing, and playing games, can improve brain health. Did you know exercising your brain can help prevent beta-amyloid deposits from developing? These harmful proteins are common in those who develop Alzheimer’s disease.

When you stimulate your brain, you also trigger sensory responses that help you stay engaged and pay attention. This response is yet another way playfulness and being engaged with others can help prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

Here are some brain-stimulating activities you can incorporate into daily life to promote long-term brain health.

• Virtual game nights
• Online video games
• Book clubs
• Write poetry or short stories
• Handwrite cards and letters to people you love
• Take a pottery class
• Learn how to sew
• Adult coloring books
• Painting and drawing
• Holiday craft projects
• Build something
• Take a class
• Learn a new language
• Listen to or play music
• Dance
• Visit a museum
• Try new recipes
• Learn a new word each day
• Talk to family and friends

As you can see, there is no shortage of stimulating and engaging activities to incorporate into your life. Not only can it help strengthen relationship bonds, but it can also promote your physical and mental well-being.

The holidays are a fun time to connect with new and old acquaintances, pick up a new hobby, or take some time for self-care and reflection. Set yourself up for your most creative and productive year yet by making fun a top priority.

According to KFF, annual family premiums for employer-sponsored health insurance rose 5 percent to an average of $20,576 in 2019. Workers’ wages grew 3.4 percent, and inflation rose 2 percent over the same period. Families were already struggling to keep up with the costs of healthcare before a global pandemic. In addition to cost barriers, some families also lack the motivation or know-how to improve their health. Here we’ll examine how to make family health and fitness more fun and more affordable.

Make it a Team Sport

Working together as a family to be healthier leads to more successful outcomes. Instead of making a healthy diet and exercise seem like a chore, approaching it as a celebration makes it easier to sustain healthy choices over time. Make health and fitness a family effort, so reaching those health goals becomes a fun team activity.

Learning new flavors, cooking together, and finding healthier food alternatives can be a fun family enterprise. Instead of thinking of it as an uncomfortable lifestyle change, make learning new exercise routines or outdoor activities into another form of entertainment. By challenging and supporting each other, family members set each other up to reach fitness goals.

Making health and fitness experiences positive helps strengthen family bonds and helps households grow together instead of apart. The family that plays together stays together. With activities like hiking, biking, walking, swimming, or outdoor games, clans develop new skills and healthy habits that can last a lifetime.

Take Advantage of Affordable Healthcare

When it comes to establishing a relationship with a primary care doctor, families have struggled in the past due to long wait times to see a doctor, the continually increasing costs, and poor customer service. People often forgo seeing a physician because they don’t want to deal with the hassles or feel they can’t afford it.

In recent years, direct primary care (DPC) has emerged as an affordable healthcare alternative to help families stay healthy. Unlike traditional family practitioners, DPC practitioners keep smaller patient panels, so they are available to provide more personalized care. Most are available for same-day appointments, email or texts, and virtual visits.

Direct primary care has also eased the financial burden associated with getting primary care to keep health conditions from developing into more severe disease states if not treated early. DPC is a monthly healthcare membership that allows members to see a primary care physician as often as necessary for a low monthly fee. Members can schedule unlimited appointments with no copay or a minimal cost, depending on their plan.

DPC Doctors Work for You

When doctors must meet insurance requirements, they work for the insurance companies instead of their patients. This requirement translates into rushed appointments that ignore thorough medical history conversations, long wait times due to overscheduling, and unfulfilling customer experience.

With DPC, families get a doctor who will take the time to know them and their medical history. Instead of waiting weeks to get an appointment or a return call, patients get peace of mind from knowing their doctor is just a simple text or call away anytime day or night. They also eliminate the hassles of dealing with insurance requirements, expensive deductibles, and ever-increasing copays.

Research shows that members who maintain an ongoing relationship with a DPC provider have better health outcomes. Milliman, Inc. recently published a study called “Direct Primary Care: Evaluating a New Model of Delivery and Financing.” They found that DPC members visited emergency rooms 40 percent less over two years. They also reported that DPC members were admitted to the hospital 26 percent less over that same two-year period. If a family uses DPC to supplement their insurance coverage, less E.R. visits and hospital stays mean exponential savings.

With DPC, families get economical and reliable primary care services to help maintain health for a lifetime. If you’d like more information on how DPC can help keep families healthy, contact Healthcare2U.

Women are beloved for their generous nature, ability to multitask, and selfless care for others. Pouring yourself out to help others can be extremely rewarding, but it can also be taxing emotionally and physically, leading to caregiver burnout. Two out of every three women in the U.S. are caregivers to children, adults, or people with chronic illnesses or disabilities. Women who are caregivers have a greater risk for poor physical and mental health, including depression and anxiety.

It’s known that providing care (informally or as a paid provider) for spouses, partners, children, other family members, friends, or neighbors can take a toll on one’s mental and physical wellbeing. Add in a global pandemic, and you have a recipe for even more stress. Studies show a whopping 40 to 70 percent of family caregivers have clinically significant symptoms of depression. About a quarter to half of these caregivers have symptoms that fall into the category of major depression.

Signs of Caregiver Stress

Women are much more likely than men to report physical symptoms of stress, including headaches and upset stomachs. Women also tend to have more mental health conditions exacerbated by stress, such as depression or anxiety.

Caregiver burnout shows up in several ways. Some of the signs of caregiver stress include:

• Making repeated mistakes or trouble focusing
• Feeling overwhelmed
• Feeling alone, isolated, or deserted by others
• Sleeping too much or too little
• Gaining or losing a lot of weight
• Feeling tired most of the time
• Losing interest in activities you used to enjoy
• Becoming irritated or angered easily
• Feeling worried or sad often
• Having headaches or body aches often
• Smoking or alcohol dependency to cope

If you or someone you know are experiencing any of these warning signs, it may be time to take action.

Effects of Stress on Women

While men and women both experience weaker immune systems, insomnia, migraines, and other harmful effects of stress, there are some ways that stress affects women more profoundly.

• Women are more likely than men to have anxiety, depression, PTSD, panic disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Chronic stress can lead to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a condition twice as common in women as in men.
• The link between stress and weight gain or obesity is stronger for women than for men.
• Women with higher levels of stress are more likely to have infertility problems than women with lower levels of stress.
• Women with chronic stress or past abuse may have more severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms or irregular periods.

Caring for the Caregiver

By taking the necessary steps to relieve caregiver stress, you can prevent long-term health problems. Also, taking better care of yourself empowers you to care for loved ones without feeling burnt out and frustrated.

Self-Care Tips for Caregivers:

• Find caregiving resources in your community.
• Take deep breaths, stretch, or meditate.
• Join a support group for caregivers.
• Drink lots of water and eat healthily.
• Exercise regularly.
• Get plenty of sleep.
• Avoid excessive alcohol and substance use.

Self-Care is Important

It’s noble to help loved ones and community members navigate a crisis as a caregiver. But as you spend yourself supporting others, it’s also vital to support and care for yourself. To maintain your well-being and to continue reaping the rewards of taking care of loved ones, it’s essential to take time for yourself. Remember to maintain meaningful relationships with family and friends. And don’t forget the golden rule of primary medical care: see your doctor for regular checkups and never ignore warning symptoms in your body.

Cholesterol gets a lot of bad press, but it’s necessary for a healthy body. Cholesterol isn’t all good, nor is it all bad. It’s a complex matter worth knowing more about. This fat-like, waxy substance is found in every part of your body. The cholesterol levels in your blood come from two sources: the foods you eat and your liver. Your liver produces all the cholesterol your body needs.

Your body uses cholesterol to make cell membranes, vitamin D, and a number of hormones. Here are some of the vitally important functions of the six steroidal hormones derived from cholesterol:

• Glucocorticoids aide in the metabolism of carbohydrates. The most important glucocorticoid is cortisol, a powerful adrenal hormone with anti-inflammatory properties that oppose immune hyperfunction.
• Mineralocorticoid hormones, such as aldosterone, regulate water/electrolyte dynamics through the control of sodium and potassium.
• Androgenic hormones like DHEA and testosterone control libido, maintain bone density and have anti-aging properties.
• Progestagens, such as progesterone, are vital for regulating women’s menstrual cycles and gestation.
• Estrogens, such as estradiol, are vital for sexual development and promote bone and brain health.
• Vitamin D is technically a sterol, but functions as a steroidal hormone. It has hundreds of vital immune supporting functions and regulates calcium in the blood.

Too Much of a Good Thing

About 95 million American adults have total blood cholesterol levels of 200mg/dl and higher. Of those, approximately 28.5 million American adults have a level of 240 or above. According to the American Heart Association, having too much LDL cholesterol leads to plaque accumulation on the walls of your arteries. When this plaque builds up, it can narrow the blood vessels, straining the flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout the body.

It can also cause blood clots, which can break loose and block blood flow, causing a heart attack or stroke. A healthy HDL cholesterol level can protect against heart attack and stroke, but studies show that low levels of HDL cholesterol can increase the risk of heart disease.

Keeping It Balanced

While heredity can play a role in cholesterol levels, you can control your cholesterol with a healthy diet, exercise, and maintaining a healthy weight. Diets high in sugar and saturated fats can amplify heart disease as can smoking. Here are some foods that can help lower cholesterol:

• Legumes
• Avocados
• Fruits and Berries
• Nuts
• Fatty Fish
• Whole Grains
• Dark Chocolate and Cocoa

Doctors recommend getting your cholesterol checked every five years. Preventing heart disease is just one of many reasons it’s essential to establish a relationship with a primary care doctor you trust. Having someone to track your vital numbers and observe trends in your health can keep you on the path of wellness and save you from chronic conditions as you age.

Your healthcare provider will determine your total cholesterol and LDL goals based on other risk factors. For that reason, it’s crucial to have a full lipid profile as part of your health history.

If it’s been a while since you had your cholesterol checked, schedule an appointment with your primary care physician.

In 2015, The Lancet published a report that found women contributed around $3 trillion to global healthcare, but nearly half of it (2.35% of global GDP) was unpaid and unrecognized. The report, which highlights women as both providers and as recipients of healthcare, outlines that women’s changing needs in both respects are not being met globally.

The authors concluded that gender equality and empowerment must be an integral part of the policies and interventions used to improve healthcare and human, social, and economic development in the decades to come.

This study underscored the fact that women’s distinctive contributions to society have been under-recognized and undervalued—economically, socially, politically, and culturally—for far too long. Women have held critical roles as members of the healthcare community and as caregivers in their families and communities for centuries. Here we will highlight two of these heroes and their contributions to healthcare.

Rebecca Lee Crumpler, MD (1831-1895)

In 1864, Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first African-American woman to become a doctor of medicine in the U.S. Born in Delaware in 1831, she was raised in Pennsylvania by an aunt who took care of sick neighbors. Without a formal title, her aunt acted as a doctor in their community. Crumpler was deeply inspired by her aunt and sought to attend medical school.

It was almost unheard of for women or black men to be admitted to medical schools during the 1850s. But heavy medical care demands for Civil War veterans created more opportunities for women physicians during this time. In 1860, she was accepted into the New England Female Medical College while working as a nurse. Because of her talent as a medical apprentice, Crumpler was recommended to attend the school by her supervising physician.

Of the 54,543 physicians in the U.S. at that time, only 300 were women, and none were African Americans. After beginning her practice in Boston, Crumpler moved to Richmond, Virginia. She primarily cared for poor African American women and children as well as freed slaves who were denied care by white physicians.

While working for the Freedmen’s Bureau, she experienced intense racism by both the administration and other physicians. Even though she had difficulty getting prescriptions filled and was ignored by male physicians, she persevered to provide care for as many people as she could.

Ann Preston, MD (1813-1872)

Ann Preston was an American physician, activist, and educator. Born to a Quaker family in West Grove, Pennsylvania, she grew up in a community known as a haven for escaped slaves. Preston began work as a schoolteacher and soon grew interested in teaching women about hygiene and physiology.

Policies against admitting women prevented Preston from gaining admittance to medical schools, but in 1850 she entered the Quaker-founded Female Medical College of Pennsylvania (later changed to Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania in 1867) at the age of 38 as a student in its inaugural class.

After graduating with her medical degree in 1851, she became a professor of physiology and hygiene at the college in 1853. When the Philadelphia Medical Society barred female physicians from training in clinics, Preston helped establish a hospital where women could train. In 1866, she was appointed dean of the medical college and eventually won her students the right to train at the well-established Pennsylvania Hospital. Male students hissed and spat at the female students when they entered the surgical theater, but she remained undeterred. In response to an 1869 campaign to prevent women from studying alongside men, Preston wrote, “Wherever it is proper to introduce women as patients, there also is it but just … for women to appear as physicians and students.”

A Debt of Gratitude

The talents of men and women are both critical for the success of any society. It’s only by recognizing and celebrating the greatness of individuals, regardless of gender or ethnicity, that industries can benefit from their discoveries and innovations. From moms taking care of scraped knees to the nurses and physicians on the front lines during a global pandemic, find ways to celebrate and appreciate amazing women’s contributions to healthcare.

Although the service sector keeps our economy going and makes our lives easier, service workers are often the lowest earners in our economy. For example in the United States, the average teacher’s salary is mid-thirty thousand to $40,000; the average automotive mechanic’s salary is $39,857; and according to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average farmworker earns between $15,000 to $17,499 a year.

Here are just a view of the professions included in the service sector:

• Housekeepers
• Teachers
• Restaurant staff
• Agricultural workers
• Mechanics
• Hotel Staff
• Retail workers

If you add up the average cost of living, the reason so many service workers do not have healthcare for themselves or their families comes sharply into focus. The average American spends $7,700 on groceries and eating out each year. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines for a moderate budget, a family of four spends between $10,680 to $12,744 on food annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines.

If you’re fortunate enough to be a homeowner, the average mortgage with 10 percent down runs about $14,000 annually. The cost of rent varies by region but averages $600 to $1500 per month in the U.S., or $7,200 to $18,000 each year. That is already about $20,000 annually for food and housing alone. Add in the cost of transportation and everything else required to maintain a household, and you’ve already swallowed up the income of a large segment of those employed within the service sector.

The Cost of Healthcare

Many restaurants, retail, hotel, agricultural workers, and other service employees are not offered health benefits from their employers. For those who do have the option, some still cannot afford to enroll or utilize their health plans due to high premiums and deductibles.

A single person with employer health coverage earning an annual salary of $50,000 spends, on average, $5,250, approximately 11 percent of his income on health care. This expense includes $800 per year in out-of-pocket costs, a $1,400 premium contribution, and $3,050 in state and federal taxes to fund health programs. If a single person earning an annual salary of $50,000 enrolls in coverage on the individual market instead of through his employer, he can expect to spend 20 percent of his income on health care.

A family of four in good health with employer-sponsored coverage and earning a reasonable salary spends about 12 percent of income on healthcare. If the health of at least one family member worsens, household health spending increases to 15 percent of their income.

The Cost of Not Having Healthcare

The Institute of Medicine found that uninsured adults in the U.S. have less access to recommended care, receive poorer quality of care, and experience worse health outcomes than insured adults do.

Studies show the uninsured are less likely than those with insurance to receive preventive care and services for major health conditions and chronic diseases. Twenty-one percent of nonelderly adults without coverage said that they went without needed care in the past year because of the cost, compared to 4 percent of adults with private coverage and 7 percent with public coverage.

An Affordable New Solution

Unfortunately, many in the service sector do not know about direct primary care and how affordable it is for families to get the healthcare they need to maintain good health. Recently, benefits brokers nationwide have endeavored to educate service employers and employees about the benefits of DPC, such as:

• Unlimited virtual DPC/telehealth
• Unlimited doctor visits for low or no visit fees
• Unlimited chronic disease management
• Unlimited urgent care for a small fee
• Annual physicals for no out-of-pocket cost
• Recommendations for generic pharmaceuticals

Direct primary care (DPC) is different than health insurance for several reasons. First, it is not insurance, so there is no expensive monthly premium deducted each pay period. Second, there are no high deductibles to meet before insurance coverage kicks in. With a DPC membership, employees and their dependents pay a low monthly fee for unlimited access to primary care.

The need for healthcare is vast among those who serve us every day. The everyday heroes who keep our transportation, food, schools, and households going must be educated on their healthcare options and should be offered the benefits of affordable and convenient access to primary care.

If you’d like more information about how you can bring DPC to the service sector, contact Healthcare2U.

The world-at-large, business, healthcare, and everyday life will not look the same way it did pre-COVID. Some predict we will only begin to recover from the pandemic’s economic fallout by the end of next year. To contain fear during this crisis, timely and honest communication from credible sources is vital. Still, governments and media have struggled to properly explain risk while providing guidance without intensifying the public’s panic. As we wrestle with the best way to rebound from these turbulent times, employers can implement a few strategies to prepare for a new normal. Tactics as simple as remembering your employees’ value, preparedness to evolve, and offering affordable healthcare solutions for recently laid-off or furloughed employees can make all the difference.

Employees Are the Backbone

A business is only as exceptional as the people it employs. No human being exists in a vacuum. If an individual’s mental and physical health aren’t maintained, he can’t perform at optimal levels or represent your company to the best of his ability. In addition to providing safe working conditions, whether in-office or remote, an employer can support employees by offering a robust health plan to help protect its most valuable assets—people.

In addition to a competitive salary, highly qualified employees want the best benefits and will often choose one company over another because of them. Employers can promote a culture of wellness within their organizations by implementing a wellness program that focuses on detection and prevention.

Unfortunately, the employees with the lowest salaries are also the least insured. By putting affordable options like direct primary care (DPC) into a company health plan, employers can make sure all their employees feel cared for when it comes to healthcare.

Evolve with the Times

The pandemic has been a wakeup call for many employers, especially where technology and operations are concerned. Many were left unprepared to work remotely from home as cities shut down one-by-one with shelter-in-place orders. Laptops and other tech equipment went on backorder as companies scrambled to set up home offices.

For those who didn’t have sufficient processes in place, cracks in the foundation emerged. The lesson for all of us has been: you never know what kind of crisis will hit. Use this opportunity to ensure you have the technology to do business anywhere in the world. Our already digital world has gone even more virtual, and there’s no turning back.

Also, take a step back and evaluate the areas of your business where chaos ensued. Talk to staff about how you can you shore up weaknesses, so you not only survive going forward, you thrive.

There’s Hope for the Unemployed

As the unemployment rate continues to escalate, an estimated 10.1 million people will lose their employer-sponsored insurance, according to a recent report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Urban Institute.

The report says of the 48 million people who will lose their job this year, 34 percent are insured through a family member’s job, while 27 percent have coverage through Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). A mere 5 percent enrolled in a non-group insurance plan, and 10 percent are uninsured.

People in the service sector were hit particularly hard, and the job losses may worsen before they get better. It’s no surprise that workers in these industries often lack the benefits or means to get primary healthcare when they are employed, much less unemployed. COVID-19 has sharpened the reality that people need affordable medical care to stay healthy and lower risks for serious illnesses. They also need to be able to see a doctor or access telemedicine at an affordable cost.

This year, Healthcare2U launched an individual direct primary care membership for furloughed or laid-off workers called MyDPCplus. Now employers can work with benefits brokers to enroll employees they have been forced to let go. Knowing that they can still access healthcare for themselves and their dependents has provided peace of mind for many during these uncertain times.

If you’re a broker who wants to help clients who have recently laid-off employees, resulting in lost jobs and healthcare benefits, download this informative brochure.