New Voya research finds 90% of caregiver employees feel that they
lack company support in some areas1
WINDSOR, Conn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Voya
Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA), announced today a new collaboration
with Wellthy,
a health care concierge service focused on helping families care for
loved ones with complex, chronic or ongoing care needs (e.g., a parent
with dementia, child with autism, spouse with Parkinson’s disease).
Through its Voya
Cares® program, which helps people with special needs and
their caregivers plan for a secure financial future, Voya will team up
with Wellthy to provide support and resources to help working caregivers
save time, money and stress. Voya’s Retirement and Employee Benefits
businesses will offer Wellthy’s services to its current and prospective
workplace clients as an added benefit they can provide to their
employees.
“One in five Americans — approximately 66 million people — are
caregivers in the U.S.2 Through our Voya Cares program, we
have started to shine a light on the unique issues that people with
special needs and disabilities, including their caregivers, face every
day,” said Heather Lavallee, president of Tax-Exempt Markets for Voya’s
Retirement business.
“Our research through Voya Cares shows that many employees who serve as
caregivers are struggling to balance their responsibilities in the
workplace and at home — by teaming up with Wellthy, we can help
employers and employees address this pressing need. Additionally, this
collaboration with Wellthy is a natural extension of Voya Cares and our
broader mission to help all Americans plan, invest and protect their
savings so they can retire better,” added Lavallee.
How Wellthy Works
For an employee with an aging parent, child with a disability, or his or
her own complex condition, managing care can become a second, full-time
job. Wellthy assists families by matching them with a dedicated Care
Coordinator who can help minimize the logistical and administrative
responsibilities often experienced by caregivers. These Care
Coordinators, many of whom are social workers by background, are the
skilled and knowledgeable workforce that helps families manage and
navigate care. Wellthy Care Coordinators guide families through a care
plan, advocate for loved ones and tackle tricky tasks across medical,
in-home, financial, legal, housing, and social and emotional needs. For
example, they help find medical providers, schedule appointments,
contest medical bills and claims, find the right in-home aide, arrange a
move to a residential care facility and much more.
Through the Voya Cares program, Wellthy’s services will be offered to
Voya’s Retirement and Employee Benefits workplace clients as an
additional benefit they can provide to their employees for a fee. The
fee for Wellthy’s services will be paid for by the employer at a
preferred price negotiated by Voya. If offered as an employer-paid
benefit, there will be no cost for caregiving employees accessing
Wellthy’s services. Voya currently offers Wellthy’s services free of
charge to its nearly 6,000 Voya employees. Voya is also considering
expanding Wellthy’s offering to Voya Investment Management clients in
the future.
Silent Caregivers Crisis
“Wellthy believes there is a silent, massive caregiving crisis impacting
families, communities, companies and our country,” said Lindsay
Jurist-Rosner, co-founder and CEO of Wellthy. “We’re excited about this
opportunity to collaborate with Voya, which is an organization committed
to supporting the financial wellness of all Americans. Together, I
believe we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of hundreds of
thousands of families.”
According to a new caregivers study sponsored by Voya Cares1,
which surveyed caregiving employees and benefits decision makers,
employers tend to underestimate the direct and indirect costs of
caregiving and the potential impact caregiving has on their employees’
productivity at work. Key findings include:
-
Nearly one-in-five caregivers (17%) are afraid to disclose their
situation to their employer and (22%) have quit their job due to
caregiving responsibilities. -
81% of caregivers report experiencing added stress or anxiety at work
as a result of their caregiving responsibilities. -
83% of caregivers have taken time off work to provide care — double
the amount of days taken off by their non-caregiving colleagues. -
90% of caregiver employees feel that they lack company support in some
areas.
“Increasingly, we find more and more clients, across all the markets we
serve, are looking for affordable solutions to help their employees
address this unmet caregiving challenge — especially when you consider
the costs of caregiving to companies is approximately $38 billion per
year, according to industry research3,” said Lavallee.
“Through this collaboration with Wellthy, our clients will be able to
differentiate their benefits offering to help attract and retain top
talent; maximize employee productivity and engagement; address
employees’ financial wellness needs; and create a supportive and
inclusive workplace.”
“Through our Voya Cares program, we’ve discovered that people with
special needs and their caregivers make up a vast and largely
underserved market,” said Jessica Tuman, vice president, Voya Cares
Center of Excellence. “By teaming up with Wellthy, we’re excited to
bring more tangible, holistic solutions that help lift the financial and
emotional stress that caregivers often face, so they can focus on
preparing for a secure financial future.”
To help both employers and employees learn more about the caregiving
crisis and its impact, educational resources are made available through
the Voya
Cares resource center, which provides further information and
support for those with disabilities and special needs, as well as their
caregivers.
As an industry leader and advocate for greater retirement readiness,
Voya Financial is committed to delivering on its vision to be America’s
Retirement Company®. Voya’s goal is to make a secure
financial future possible for everyone — one person, one family, one
institution at a time.
1) Findings of an online survey of 510 HR Decision Makers respondents
and an online survey of 1,815 employee respondents, both conducted by
Voya Financial in partnership with Lieberman Research Worldwide (LRW)
during the period of Dec. 2, 2018 – Jan. 14, 2019.
2) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Caregiver Resources &
Long-Term Care, 2017.
3) The Caring Company, Harvard Business School report, January 2019.
About Voya Financial®
Voya Financial, Inc. (NYSE:VOYA), helps Americans plan, invest and
protect their savings — to get ready to retire better. Serving the
financial needs of approximately 13.8 million individual and
institutional customers in the United States, Voya is a Fortune 500
company that had $8.5 billion in revenue in 2018. The company had $547
billion in total assets under management and administration as of March
31, 2019. With a clear mission to make a secure financial future
possible — one person, one family, one institution at a time — Voya’s
vision is to be America’s Retirement Company®. Certified as a
“Great Place to Work” by the Great Place to Work® Institute,
Voya is equally committed to conducting business in a way that is
socially, environmentally, economically and ethically responsible. Voya
has been recognized as one of the 2019 World’s Most Ethical Companies®
by the Ethisphere Institute; as a member of the Bloomberg Gender
Equality Index; and as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion”
on the Disability Equality Index by Disability:IN. For more information,
visit voya.com.
Follow Voya Financial on Facebook,
LinkedIn
and Twitter @Voya.
About Voya Cares®
As an extension of Voya’s vision and mission to help all Americans have
the quality of life they seek in retirement, the Voya Cares program is
committed to being a leader in making a positive difference in the lives
of individuals with special needs and disabilities — as well as their
families, caregivers and other providers — by offering a depth of
resources focused on education, planning and solutions. Visit voyacares.com
to learn more.
About Wellthy
Wellthy is a modern healthcare concierge service. Wellthy uses dedicated
Care Coordinators and a seamless technology platform to project manage
healthcare for families with complex, chronic, and ongoing care needs.
Wellthy takes the pain out of healthcare — scheduling appointments,
finding the right specialists, researching treatment options, managing
insurance, organizing records, communicating with family members and
much more. Wellthy adds a layer of much-needed customer service to the
health system — giving families help, hope and peace of mind. Get the
care you and your loved ones deserve. With a Wellthy Care Coordinator,
you’ll always have someone on your side. Find out more: www.wellthy.com.
Follow Wellthy on LinkedIn
and Twitter @WeAreWellthy.
Contacts
Voya Financial
Bill Sutton
Office: (860) 580-2626
Cell:
(315) 373-9685
[email protected]
Wellthy
wellthy.com
(877)
588-3917
[email protected]
