For benefits leaders evaluating prevention engagement ROI, the question isn’t whether healthy employees will sign up. It’s whether the program can engage the 40-year-old male with borderline hypertension who hasn’t seen a doctor in three years. The evidence says yes.
Preventive care utilization collapses the moment adulthood begins—dropping from 86% in childhood to as low as 18% for young adult men. For employers, this means the majority of their workforce is skipping the single most cost-effective intervention in the healthcare system. Making care “free” hasn’t fixed it. Understanding why is the first step toward a different approach.
The claims payment infrastructure of modern health plans has created a hidden economic penalty for the employees with the highest clinical risk—the exact people your preventive care investment is designed to help. Understanding the mechanics of “benefit abrasion” reveals why traditional plan designs can’t fully deliver on the promise of free prevention.
70% of working-age adults with insurance aren’t using their annual preventive benefits—despite being covered at 100%. The barriers aren’t awareness. They’re access, fragmentation, and benefit inconsistencies that surprise employees with unexpected costs.