数据驱动的了解员工的需求inform design and delivery of benefits programs that increase equity in employee financial health.

Employers, benefits platforms, regulators, and employees are paying more attention to earned wage access (EWA) products for their potential to improve employee financial health. Employers can maximize the positive outcomes of EWA products by minimizing associated fees, explaining the program mechanics to employees, and providing a complementary suite of financial resources.

This report shines a light on employer decisions around health insurance and how those decisions have helped shape the medical debt crisis, explaining specific actions employers should take now to reduce employee financial stress while improving productivity and retention.

This report shows how the shifting health insurance landscape has helped shape the medical debt crisis, identifying specific actions insurers should take now to boost Americans’ confidence in their coverage and motivate them to pursue timely care that reduces the need for costlier services.

This report examines the role that hospitals and health systems play in the national medical debt crisis, identifying specific actions they should take now to prevent patients from experiencing debt-related declines in financial, physical, mental, and social health.

This report provides an issue overview of the national medical debt crisis, describing its prevalence and effects on consumers, how medical debt functions as a social determinant of health and driver of health inequities, opportunities to prevent it, and long-term strategies for impact.

As the leading cause of bankruptcy in the U.S., medical debt impacts the financial lives of millions of vulnerable Americans each year. There are a number of immediate actions for healthcare stakeholders – including hospitals and health systems, insurers, and employers – to take to prevent medical debt and its devastating impacts. By working to prevent medical debt, organizations can support consumer health and well-being while also strengthening loyalty, trust, and community reputation.

In this brief, we leverage findings from a nationally representative survey to better understand the buy now, pay later (BNPL) market, the users who are driving it, and the implications for their financial health.

Consumers spent more money on recreation and eating out during the 2021 holiday season than during the 2020 holiday season, but many remain vulnerable as government relief programs expire and inflation continues. This brief examines the factors that may shape financial health in the early months of 2022.

This research was produced by the Financial Health Network in collaboration with BlackRock’s Emergency Savings Initiative (ESI). ESI is a cross-sector program with a mission to help people living on low to moderate incomes gain access to and increase usage of proven savings strategies and tools – ultimately helping them establish an important safety net.

A recent study of full-time workers reveals a high need for debt-related benefits, as well as gaps between those who need these benefits most and those who currently have access to them.

The Financial Health Network began conducting research in early 2021 to identify strategies employers can use to embed an equity lens into their benefits programs. HR leaders can use these early learnings to design and deliver programs and benefits that reduce financial health gaps among employees.