ProService Hawaii Says Getting Vaccinated is an Employer Issue

HONOLULU, HAWAII (October 1, 2021) –  With Hawaii’s state vaccination rate hovering in the low 70% range, the fight against COVID is still very much prevalent today because of the recent Delta variant surge and vaccine hesitancy among a small population of residents. ProService Hawaii, Hawaii’s leader in HR management, says Hawaii employers need to start leaning into the vaccine issue right now in order to minimize employer healthcare expenses and accelerate the state’s economic recovery. 

Hawaii employers have been slow to take on the vaccine issue mainly because they may not understand what is within their rights and limits to execute policies. For these reasons, ProService has created a new resource, Vaccines & the Workplace, which has a full range of resources employers can engage, including specific guidance on how to implement a vaccine policy depending on workplace operations, culture, and other unique circumstances that many businesses have. 

One of the major driving forces behind ProService creating a free vaccine guide for Hawaii employers is that Covid transmission and healthcare costs are having a massive business impact. In addition, the cost of lost time, sick employees, quarantines, remote work, etc. continue to rise. ProService believes doing nothing means higher costs for business in a state that is already too expensive.

“By far the largest spend in healthcare utilization is hospitalization costs associated with Covid,” says Ben Godsey, President and CEO of ProService Hawaii. “In our ProService healthcare plans alone, over $3M in spend in the last six months has come from Covid-related hospitalization costs and 99% of these costs are from unvaccinated members. My estimation is that the costs of an unvaccinated population continuing to get infected and go to the hospital will be 3% of healthcare costs, minimum for 2022. This is a direct expense every employer in Hawaii is bearing,” he added.

Hawaii employers can download The Ultimate Guide to Vaccines & the Workplace, or view the Vaccine & the Workplace resource today, which will help them develop a customized approach that works for their business and circumstances.