As more and more millennials — born 1981 to 1996 — and Generation Z — born 1997 to 2012 — join the workforce, employers and their health insurance partners are called upon to innovate and adapt to ensure that their benefits offerings meet the needs of today’s employees.
According to a report from Accenture, today’s employees seek specific qualities in their health care and benefits, such as digital, user-friendly platforms and personalized support. They value their overall experience and want it to be easy to understand their benefits and find providers.
“Millennial and Gen Z workers are becoming an increasing share of our overall membership,” said Tim Lieb, senior vice president of commercial markets. “This mirrors what we’re seeing in the overall workforce as baby boomers retire. We also know that these younger generations have very different needs and preferences than their more senior coworkers.”
The Marsh McLennan Agency’s “2025 Employee Health and Benefit Trends” report finds that millennials want support with family planning, financial wellness and career development, while Gen Z employees prioritize mental health, work-life balance and self-care. The same-named 2024 report identifies areas of opportunity for employers to best serve today’s employees:
- Employees identify better benefits as their second highest reason for switching jobs, following better pay. Some 73% of employees say they’d be motivated to stay at their company if they had better health plan options.
- Rising pharmaceutical costs remain a concern for employees of all ages, with 38% of Americans having put off medical treatment in the last 12 months due to cost.
- In addition to their distinctive health concerns, Gen Z and millennials’ priorities for their health plan include innovative technology and ease of use. Eight in 10 employees say it is very important for their benefits provider to innovate by leading in digital technology.
What Blue Shield is doing
Blue Shield’s commitment to meeting the needs of the evolving workforce is evident in its individualized offerings, from flexible health care and pharmacy care to programs designed to meet individual needs, including:
- User-friendly technology: Blue Shield’s member app has a rating of 4.8 stars, and it is continuously being enhanced to meet member needs. For example, the member health record aims to bring all of a member’s health information into a single app, which can be accessed from any device. This will eliminate the often-frustrating need for multiple health apps for things like visit information, claims data and lab results.
- Flexible health care: In 2023, Blue Shield launched Virtual Blue, a virtual-forward program with the option to be seen in person if needed or preferred. Virtual Blue offers quick and convenient access to high-quality primary, specialist, mental and behavioral health care, with low or no deductibles and 24-hour access to virtual care.
- Whole-person care: Recognizing the increasing importance of wellness among our members, Blue Shield provides access to Wellvolution, a personalized lifestyle-medicine platform that offers programs from meditation to digital physical therapy to weight loss, at no additional cost to most members.
- Pharmacy Care Reimagined: To tackle rising pharmaceutical costs and increase transparency, Blue Shield is building a pharmacy ecosystem that prioritizes better value for our members. In the Blue Shield app, members can compare drugs across hundreds of pharmacies to find the best option at the lowest price, and in most cases have it delivered right to their doorstep with Amazon home delivery.
- Benefits for individual needs: In a state as diverse as California, Blue Shield recognizes the necessity to provide offerings to meet the needs of our unique populations and work toward closing the gaps in health equity.
- For the LGBTQIA+ community, Blue Shield has partnered with Folx Health to offer in-network virtual primary care, therapy and other services.
- For the Latino community, Blue Shield has partnered with Zócalo Health, a Latino-founded healthcare service designed to offer a culturally aligned healthcare experience.
- For family planning, Blue Shield’s Maternal Child Health Equity initiative offers a comprehensive program to help address disproportionate mortality rates among mothers and children, especially in underserved communities.
“At Blue Shield, our mission is to make health care worthy of our family and friends,” said Ellen Sexton, chief growth officer. “We’re going to continue leading the way to ensure today’s workforce has access to the high-quality care and services they need and deserve.”