Note: On December 8, 2020, we released an updated analysis based on 2019 data. The latest press release can be found here: http://tools.ibiweb.org/poor-health-costs-us-employers-575-billion/
US employers paid nearly $880 billion in health care benefits for employees and dependents, but how much does illness-related lost productivity cost employers?
IBI uses data from IBI’s Full Cost Estimator, a proprietary online tool that analyzes the full costs of health and productivity based on several large databases, to assess this.
The FCE model estimates that illness-related absences, disability leaves, impaired job performance, and occupational injuries and illnesses cost U.S. employers $530B in the year 2017. This amounts to 60 cents for every dollar spent on healthcare benefits for employees and their dependents. A breakdown of the estimated cost can be viewed in the infographic.