Workplace Health Benefits and Employee Health

大多数美国成年人醒着的时间有三分之一以上是在工作场所度过的。毫无疑问，工作场所问题直接影响员工的健康，尽管雇主往往没有义务向员工提供某些福利，但显然雇主和员工之间存在着一种共生关系。这项拟议的独立科学家奖申请的中心重点是研究雇主在员工健康方面发挥的关键作用，无论是目前已经实现的还是潜在的。K02奖将提供一个无与伦比的机会，以连贯和统一的方式发展以国外为基础的研究框架，将几个研究方向联系在一起，而不是采用否则将是必要的零敲碎打的方法。中心目标是利用这一奖项的支持，探索雇主提供的健康福利的三个广泛方面。第一个研究领域建议探索当地卫生保健市场因素，特别是当地卫生保健安全网与雇主提供健康保险的决定和雇员随后在提供保险时接受保险的决定之间的相互作用。第二个领域建议在国家一级通过具体研究企业负责任的医疗保健购买行为来审查企业在提供医疗福利方面的行为。第三个领域建议扩大正在进行的合作关系，以检查雇主可能影响的几个具体疾病领域和情况，如精神疾病、药物滥用和照顾年迈父母的休假政策。通过阐明大多数美国人获得健康福利的过程以及一般和特定情况下福利的特点，就有可能更好地了解如何改善全民的覆盖面和健康状况。

Most adults in the United States spend well over a third of their waking hours in the workplace. There is little doubt that workplace issues directly affect the health of employees, While employers are often not obligated to offer certain benefits to employees, clearly there exists a symbiotic relationship between employer and employee. The central focus of this proposed Independent Scientist Award application is to study the critical role, both currently realized and in potential, that employers play in the health of their employees. This K02 award would provide an unparalleled opportunity to develop abroad-based research frame in a coherent and unified manner that ties several lines of research together, instead of the piecemeal approach that would otherwise be necessary. The central goal is to leverage the support from this award to explore three broad aspects of employer provided health benefits. The first area of research proposes to explore the interaction between local health care market factors, particularly the local health care safety net, and the employer's decision to offer health insurance and the employee's subsequent decision to accept insurance when it is offered. The second area proposes to examine firm behavior with respect to the provision of health care benefits at a national level by specifically looking at responsible health care purchasing behavior by firms. The third area proposes to extend ongoing collaborative relationships to examine several specific disease areas and conditions that employers may affect, such as mental illness, substance abuse, arid leave policies to care for elderly parents. By elucidating the processes by which the majority of Americans receive their health benefits and the characteristics of the benefits in general and for specific conditions, it will be possible to achieve a greater understanding of the means by which coverage and health can be improved for all.