by Al Lewis
What employees don’t know can hurt them. It can even bankrupt them, as the first Top Tip shows. More and more employers are figuring this out, which is why roughly 500,000 employees will have access to Quizzify in January, up from about 50,000 in January 2019.
Here are some highlights from our Six Things Employees Should Know postings from 2019.
1. Surprise Bills
40% of all ER and inpatient stays generate surprise bills. More than 20% of insured adults report receiving at least one in the last five years. Medical bills are now the leading cause of bankruptcy. Quizzify’s solution – a brief, carefully crafted consent usable in any emergency situation -- can now be downloaded into any Apple Wallet.
This consent works. Stacey Richter is not just a prominent healthcare podcaster. She is also, like most of us, a consumer of healthcare. She reports (in a blog post to be featured next week) that the same ER which charged her family an arm and a leg in a visit last year only cost her $150 for a recent visit involving more complexity. The key, she says, was the Quizzify consent.
Read Six Things Employees Should Know about Surprise Bills here and download the consent and add it to your Apple Wallet here.
2. Heartburn Pills
Other than pain relievers, the #1 OTC drug category is heartburn medication. The most popular heartburn pills are known as “proton pump inhibitors,” and include Prilosec, Prevacid, and Nexium. As popular as those pills already were, the Zantac recall turbocharged their sales.
Like virtually all OTC meds, they are perfect safe for occasional use. But, also like virtually all OTC meds, plenty of people overlook the hazards of regular use. Employees get relief, so they keep using them. These meds are specifically labeled for short-term use, but who reads the label?
Read this Six Things posting to learn about the hazards of heartburn pills, and this Six Things posting to learn about some shockingly easy, creative and effective non-medicinal ways to relieve or prevent heartburn.
3. Sleep aids
Better sleeping through chemistry? We think not.
What you just read about heartburn bills is true with OTC sleep aids as well. They look completely harmless, featuring pictures of the moon or stars. With names like “ZZZ-Quil” or “Tylenol PM,” they play off the brands you have come to trust.
However, the active ingredient in all 115 of these products, diphenhydramine (aka Benadryl), should not be used every night, period. As an occasional take-as-directed allergy reliever, go for it – as safe as meds get. But virtually nothing intended for occasional use should be taken regularly.
Our Six Things post on sleep aids has more info.