With U.S. life expectancy at its lowest point since 1996 and lagging behind other comparable countries, employers have a major role to play in creating a change, a new report explains.

The report from Deloitte, published Tuesday, found that while the average lifespan for Americans is 77.9 years, Americans are living only 65.9 years in good health. However, if employers and the healthcare industry were to adopt Deloitte’s Future of Health vision — which includes focusing on wellness and prevention, leveraging technology like wearable devices, educating healthcare consumers and personalizing care— Americans’ average lifespan could reach 90 years by 2040, with 85 of those years being in good health, Deloitte estimated.

“I think the role of the employer is radically different going forward,” said Neal Batra, a principal in Deloitte’s Life Sciences and Healthcare practice, in an interview. “If you’re giving your best years to these enterprises and these teams, I think there’s an obligation of those organizations to ensure that the very best years of your life don’t happen just for them. And when you’re in your retirement years or your post-work years, those don’t end up being the worst years health-wise for you. … It’s not about setting up a couple solutions and getting out of the way and saying, ‘There you go, navigate.’ It’s recognizing that individuals at a personal level have really nuanced dynamics.”

And if employers take up this challenge, they can make a sizable impact on people’s lives.

“There are actually very significant life expectancy gains that are reachable for us as societies — and even perhaps more importantly than just living longer — living healthier within that lifespan,” Batra said. 

The report also showed that Black Americans currently have an average lifespan of 72.7 years, and live 60 of those years in good health. Meanwhile, American Indian or Alaskan Natives have an average lifespan of 68.3 years, living 54 of those years in good health. Deloitte’s analysis predicts that if changes are made, the average lifespan could increase by 24 years for Black Americans and 28 years for American Indian and Alaskan Natives.

How can employers support this change? They will have to shift their focus to more preventive, personalized care, Batra said. This could include improving access to health screenings and mental health support. It could also involve supporting healthy lifestyle changes, such as providing access to healthy food and fitness options.

Offering educational materials on health and leveraging wearable devices and digital tools will also support longer, healthier lives. In addition, it’s important to invest in social determinants of health (such as affordable housing, food, financial support and clean air and water).

Deloitte didn’t analyze how much these changes will affect employers financially. However, Batra predicted that while there will be more investment on the preventive side of care, costs will eventually be reduced in the long run by allowing employees to stay healthy longer, thereby avoiding more expensive procedures.

It will be interesting to see whether employers will heed the report and make these investments knowing that employees could easily switch jobs, making it less likely that the employers will see the return on that investment.

But the responsibility doesn’t just come down to employers, the report states. The healthcare industry as a whole needs to make changes by promoting alternative sites of care like retail clinics, tapping into technology and AI and focusing on prevention.

“One of our frustrations about the system is the system has been organized around a reactive, sick care model,” Batra said. “By no fault of any individuals in the system, they are all wired to be reactive and responsive when you show up unwell. I think part of what needs to happen here is that those that have been mostly oriented around reactive, sick care need to start creating space for the wellness, wellbeing, disease avoidance, early intervention portion of these conversations.”

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