Rapidly Rising Health Insurance Costs Are Creating A Budget Crisis In Many School Districts
School HR and Risk Management Departments were quick to see the opportunity to keep their District Staff healthier by installing Purifans in District Offices. When talking to School Districts about putting Purifans in their school classrooms and showing them how much could be saved in annual health care costs for children and teachers, the Superintendents and Business Officials immediately recognized Purifans could help them lower their own employee usage of health care services. Lowering the use of health care services is the ONLY WAY to slow down the rapidly rising health insurance costs in their tight budgets. Some Administrators reported that their health insurance was rising at a rate of 10-13% per year, even with all of their existing Health and Wellness programs they were recommending for their employees.
The Purifan Clean Air Wellness Program is a passive program, all employees have to do to receive 100% of the benefits is BREATHE while working! Those Districts that self insure their health care have easy access to their employee usage data did some quick checks and found out that respiratory-related illnesses, doctor's office visits, test procedures, antibiotic and prescriptions for allergy and asthma medications were a significant component of the annual employee healthcare expenses. They also agreed that the annual impact contagious illness like colds and influenza have on annual expenses. Most Districts have a employees in older buildings without the best air quality. Higher levels of airborne contaminants is an environment that helps colds and flu spread quickly throughout the staff in the building. Employees fighting respiratory problems, allergies and asthma do not perform well at work, make more mistakes and spread their contagious illnesses to others in the office. Read this ACAAI Report from Medem.
One extensive study reported by Blue Cross and Blue Shield showed teacher and school employee groups they insured spent more than 50% of their annual health care money on respiratory related services, procedures and medicine. So they recognized the opportunity for Cleaner Air in Classrooms and District Offices can help reduce the triggers for allergy and asthma problems, and even more important, Purifans appear to substantially reduce the spread of contagious illnesses brought to the office or classroom. The payback from savings of paid sick day, medical expenses for treating allergies and asthma and the impact of seasonal colds and flu could save the District 4 or 5 times the real cost of installing the Purifans. Any cost saving program that offers a 400 to 500% return is something any District should consider.
HR Risk Managers reported to us that the most common illness for their staff and teachers was cold, flu, bronchitis, sinusitis and other common contagious illnesses that went through the school or office. While other Wellness Programs focus on weight, smoking, stress, exercise, diet and nutrition, it is hard to see any first year reduction in employee sick days from these Wellness Programs. With the Purifan Clean Air Wellness Program, and just installing Purifans in school classrooms teachers experienced 50 fewer sick days the first year. Since most school districts allow teacher to take sick days for personal development, the reduction in missed days for actual illness was reduced by much more than 50% in this school! The Principal said almost all the teacher sick days were scheduled weeks or months in advance, but the 7 a.m. phone calls from teachers too sick to work went down to almost nothing! This Principal was convinced lower level of teacher illnesses was caused by the Purifans and the impact of cleaner classroom air on the health of the teachers. Any time someone is required to work in high density seating arrangements like classroom, shared offices and of course the highest density seating is on an airliner they will experience a substanially higher number of respiratory illnesses.
Every school district should consider the health care savings from medical costs and lower insurance to help pay for the lease or purchase of Purifans for their offices or classrooms.
Calculate the Rapid Payback You Get From The Purifans Clean Air Wellness Program
The easiest way to calculate Payback is use a Lease Rate for a 36 month Lease for a Purifan. The Lease cost for each Purifan is $33 per month including all filters and cleaning services provided by Purifan. The Purifan will cover a 20 x 20 foot area, which is typically 6 employees in most District Offices so the cost per employee is only $5.51 per month per employee. That is about $66 per year. How many employee sick days or medical costs do you have to save to recover more than $66 in a year? The real answer is if you save any one employee, just one 2 day illness like a cold, influenza, sinus infection, bronchitis or anything respiratory related, then the Wellness Program paid for itself. If a District was able to save all the employees sitting under each Purifan 50% of their sick days, each year, the payback would be 10 or 20 times the low cost of installing Purifans. Plus if employees stay healthier, they spend less on health care and this lower usage of health care services should help lower the cost of providing insurance the next year! Plus employees will feel better at work, be more productive, make fewer mistakes, have fewer accidents and feel more appreciated by their employer!
Read this ACAAI Report from Medem. It highlights the impact on employee performance when they are fighting repeat respiratory symptoms from allergies and asthma caused by higher levels of particulates in the air they breathe at work. 
