EMPLOYEES PLAYING SICK
MEAN RISING COSTS FOR AMERICAN BUSINESS

INTRO: American businesses are spending more than ever to provide sick leave for their employees. The problem is, most of the time, employees aren't really sick. Here's more from Mary Koch with "Your Health Care Dollar."

* * *

MARY: (Cough, cough) "Hey, boss. I got dis code in by head. I don't wanna expose the rest of the crew to by gerbs, (sniff) so I won't be at work today." (sneeze)

Nice acting job, but chances are, you're not really sick. A recent survey shows that two out of three employees taking a day of sick leave, aren't sick at all.

The survey was done by CCH, an Illinois company that specializes in employment law and human resources information. They found that nearly half the time, employees calling in sick are staying home because of family issues or personal needs. Another 12 percent stay home because of stress, and 10 percent call in sick because of what CCH calls "entitlement mentality." In other words, "I deserve the day off. My boss just isn't bright enough to figure that out."

All this unscheduled absenteeism is costing American businesses a lot of money -- 789 dollars per employee last year. That can add up to thousands of dollars in losses for small companies -- and millions for large employers.

Those added costs represent lower productivity -- your employer is paying you, but you're not producing. And then there's the expense of hiring temporary replacements or paying overtime for others to do your work. On top of that, the trend of unscheduled absences is going up and so are the related costs. Last year they accounted for 2.3 percent of the payroll dollar.

Employers take a variety of approaches to handle time off. The Society for Human Resources Management says the number of companies offering paid vacation or personal days has dropped in the past couple years with the tightening economy.

But what about those employees who are not really sick? They still may need the day off. There's a home loan to sign, or a parent-teacher conference at school. Maybe they're moving mom into an assisted living facility, or a dear friend is dying.

Most employers use "disciplinary action" to try to control absenteeism.

But the CCH survey found the most effective control is something called a "paid leave bank." The employer provides each employee with a bank of hours to be used for various purposes instead of traditional separate leave programs for sick, vacation and personal time.

Another approach is a "buy back" program. The employer buys back with cash or vacation time all or some of the employee's unused sick time. That way, healthy employees are rewarded for not using their sick leave and less likely to take those so-called "entitlement" days.

Lori Rosen, a workplace analyst for CCH, says that employers who cling to old sick leave policies and disciplinary action are losing more money every year. She says they need to create new policies and programs that accommodate the changing requirements of today's workforce.

Rosen says that when time off is flexible enough to allow employees to miss work for personal business, those days or hours off can be scheduled. Then, the employer can be prepared to cover the employee's duties while he or she is away.

That can keep costs down for the employer -- and the employee won't have to take acting lessons.

This is Mary Koch and that's Your Health Care Dollar for this week.

* * *

Click here to read more about the CCH absentee report.

LICK LIDS OR THINK PINK?
CONTROVERSY OVER CANCER DONATIONS

INTRO: October was national Breast Cancer Awareness month. The goal was to spotlight the rising incidence of breast cancer. It also brought attention to corporations that are using breast cancer awareness as part of their marketing strategy. Here's more from Mary Koch and "Your Health Care Dollar."

* * *

MARY: I was licking the lid of my yogurt container the other day, when I stopped to read the small print. It said that if I would send the lid back to the manufacturer, they would donate 10 cents to breast cancer research.

I tried — with very little success — to make sense of this. Say I eat yogurt every day for a week. I don't, but let's just say I did. That would be seven lids to wash and dry, put into an envelope and mail. That would generate a whopping 70-cent donation at a cost of 37 cents for postage and my time and trouble.

If I did that every week for a year, I would not only be bloated from so much yogurt, my efforts would result in 36 dollars and 40 cents for cancer. And I would have spent nearly 20 bucks for postage.

And what about the folks at the other end, counting all those yogurt lids for cancer? The instructions say to send "clean" lids, but we all know the definition of clean can vary greatly.

Besides that, I can never pull those lids off in one piece. They always split somewhere down the middle. So will the yogurt maker accept just two-thirds of a lid, or even half? Or if I send one-third of a lid, will they donate 3.333 pennies to the cause?

Seems like it would be simpler to write a check for the 20 dollars I would have spent on postage and donate it to my favorite breast cancer effort.

I'm not alone in that opinion. An organization called Breast Cancer Action has begun what they call an awareness campaign — "Think Before You Pink." The slogan refers to the pink ribbon symbol used to promote breast cancer awareness and research. Those pink ribbons are showing up on a number of products — from yogurt to vacuum cleaners to lipstick. The manufacturers are promising to donate money when customers buy those products.

But Breast Cancer Action argues that the pink ribbon campaigns do more to boost the sponsoring company's profits and image than help people who have the disease.

So what's wrong with a little corporate promotion in the market place? It is, after all, the American way of life. Well, Barbara Brenner, who is the executive director of Breast Cancer Action, says citizens may be led to believe that they're doing something meaningful for breast cancer by buying those products. Meanwhile, she says, the "real work that needs to be done around treatment, prevention and access to care will continue to be under-funded and ignored."

Breast cancer is on the rise in America. Last year the incidence of invasive breast cancer was projected to jump five percent over the previous year. That translates to nearly 200,000 new cases.

Brenner says the "Think Before You Pink" campaign is not about discouraging people from taking action. It's about encouraging consumers to by savvy about how they give and to whom they give. For example, she says, there are grass roots organizations all over the country doing important work yet receive little or no corporate support.

Before responding to marketing efforts, Brenner suggests you ask yourself three question:

First — How much money actually goes to the cause?

Second — Who gets the money? Is it an organization that you think is doing important work?

And third — What types of programs are being supported?

It's up to you. You can certainly lick all those yogurt lids and postage stamps. Or you can take care of it with one, simple check. This is Mary Koch, and that's "Your Health Care Dollar" for this week.

* * *

Click here to visit the Breast Cancer Action web sites

Oregon voters consider
health care reform

LEAD-IN: Tomorrow Oregon voters will decide on a proposal for sweeping reforms of the state's health care system. With the insurance industry pouring more than a million dollars into the campaign against it, the proposal is not expected to pass. But it may be a preview of future efforts to change health care, not only in Oregon but in Washington state. Here's more from Mary Koch and "Your Health Care Dollar:"

* * *

KOCH: Oregon's Ballot Measure 23 would establish universal health care in the state. Citizens would pay higher taxes but they wouldn't be paying medical bills and insurance premiums — which have been going up with no limit in sight. Many states, including Washington, have been looking at plans similar to the Oregon proposal. But Oregon is the first to get universal health care onto the ballot.

I talked with Portland Tribune reporter Mary Bellotti, who has been covering the campaign for Measure 23. She says it got on the ballot through the efforts of a group called Health Care for All Oregon. It's an interesting coalition of very young and very old health care reformers.

BELLOTTI: (43) These are older people who have gone through years of the ups and downs of our health care system, now are experiencing problems with Medicare. Medicare doesn't cover prescriptions and they seem to think if so much money weren't going out to bureaucracy and to insurance companies for a lot of paperwork, that if we could take all that money that is spent on bureaucracy and spend it on health care by going through one payer instead of all these multiple companies, that everyone would have access to health care. And so it's kind of a joining of young people who in college don't have much health care, and they kind of think, "I'm so young I won't need it so I'm not going to try to get insurance," and older people who are really concerned about having access and not having it. They've kind of joined forces to try to get people's attention and get them to understand why it's so important to them to change our system. It is a radical idea, however, and I'm not sure that people are ready to go that far.

KOCH: Oregon is different from Washington in its tax structure, which is built around a statewide income tax. Under Measure 23, personal income taxes could go up as much as eight percent, depending on a person's income. Employers also would be looking at a new payroll tax.

BELLOTTI: (81) And that scares people, and one of the things that the campaign has not been able to persuade very well, to get people to understand, that they won't be paying out any premiums and other expenses — personal health expenses — toward insurance companies. So all the money they now pay out would go into the single payer plan.

KOCH: Another criticism is aimed at the plan's broad coverage. Opponents say there's nothing to keep down expenses and the state won't be able to afford the total health care bill.

BELLOTTI: (120) That's where I think the proponents are vulnerable because they do include alternative medicine and almost anything that a licensed practitioner would say you need to keep healthy — lots of things that are not covered by traditional insurance right now.

KOCH: If Oregon's attempt at health care reform does include flaws, they are being clearly spelled out by opponents, who have more than a million dollars to spend on TV ads. The money is coming from the insurance industry, with individual companies throwing in at least 100 thousand dollars each.

BELLOTTI: (207) The "No on 23" campaign has raised 1.2 million dollars to fight it and that's where they get their money now to run those TV ads. Whereas, Health Care for Oregon, which is mostly grass roots contributors — their largest campaign contribution was from the American Federation of Teachers gave them a five thousand dollar contribution — they've raised 37 thousand five hundred dollars total.

KOCH: Despite the lopsided campaign, the health care reformers aren't ready to give up, even if they lose the election tomorrow.

BELLOTTI: (258) They're already talking about a Son of 23 and I think that there is so much unhappiness — people that I've talked to about why would you vote for this or not vote for this — there's so much unhappiness with health care right now: People paying more of their own insurance costs, their employers are passing it onto them, they can't get their families covered as well as they used to. Prescription drugs are driving health care costs out of control, and I think people are thinking we need to do something.

KOCH: We've been hearing from Portland Tribune reporter Mary Bellotti about Oregon's Ballot Measure 23, which will be decided tomorrow. And yes, there is a similar organization for health care reform in this state, called "Health Care for All Washington." So far the group has been unable to get a proposal onto our ballot. This is Mary Koch and that's "Your Health Care Dollar" for this week.

* * *

A final poll conducted by the Portland Tribune indicates the Oregon ballot measure will fail. To read Mary Bellotti's story, click here.