This blog spends a lot of time on the aging population and specifically the huge numbers of Boomers approaching retirement. It’s personal — it’s my generation and it fascinates me. Moreover, my generation is profoundly influential; typically we represent 1 out of 2 patients in the dentist’s waiting room and have the most need and financial ability to pay for dental services.
But a recent story about a new approach to employee benefits taken by a leading Canadian communications company caught my eye. Essentially, that company has a younger employee base which wanted more flexibility and choice with its benefits, involving not only the traditional range of dental, drug and disability options, but also wellness, fitness and financial planning possibilities too. Younger people, here called Generation Y (those born between 1980 and 1990), value things differently, including professional dental services.
In the days of the Boomers, many employers in North America made the dental plan compulsory – in part to simplify administration, and in part to control the cost of this benefit by minimizing anti-selection (a process whereby only those who will use the benefit enroll in the program). Enrolling lots of low-risk employees and their dependents into the group dental plan enabled the cross-subsidization of those who were at high risk. It also facilitated benefit creep – my compulsory dental plan for example, pays for part of the cost of dental implants simply because its members generate a surplus to pay for this feature.
But the case study of the Canadian communications company shows GenY has a different perspective on dentistry. It has had relatively little decay or gum disease (yet), its perspective is more about “me” than about “us”, and perhaps just as importantly, with these new choices called healthcare spending accounts, it may be losing the habit of going to the dentist. The nub of the matter is that dentistry’s value proposition may have weakened with more choice of employee benefits. So let’s turn the clock to 2015. How big is GenY compared to the Boomers? Chart 1 shows this younger generation will be smaller than the Boomers, but becoming more significant in the working population.
So let’s turn the clock to 2015. How big is GenY compared to the Boomers? Chart 1 shows this younger generation will be smaller than the Boomers, but becoming more significant in the working population.
Source: http://www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/informationGateway.php
I recently chatted to an old friend who has a large dental practice serving the Government of Canada employees. As you might imagine, the dental plan for this group is very tradition, very generous and comprehensive. So times are good in my friend’s practice. At least for now. But what happens when the Boomers leave the civil service and the GenY folks take their place?
Source: Ross Perry
For more information, please visit: http://blog.prevora.com/2013/03/grabbing-geny/.
