POSB409 Caregiver Absence Time and Payments Due to Sick Leave, Long- and Short-Term Disability and Workers' Compensation for Employees Whose Spouses Have Cancer in the United States

To use objective data to measure the impact on absence time and costs for employees whose spouses/partners have cancer and determine if utilization/payments varied over time. Retrospective analysis of the Workpartners Research Reference Database (RRDb, 2001—2019). Spouses/partners with medical claims for conditions within the United States Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality oncology (cancer) category were identified annually. For eligible employees (EMPs) of the spouses/partners, the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) as a measure of severity, all-cause utilization (% of EMPs filing claims), mean days of leave, and median payments as a % of salary (PMTs) for sick-leave (SL), short-/long-term disability (STD/LTD, respectively) and workers' compensation (WC) were calculated and compared with baseline (2001). Disability & WC payments included lump-sum distributions and potentially extended beyond initiation year. WC claims without absences were excluded. SL payments are equal to salary. All leaves were aggregated by initiation year. Spouses’/partners’ cancer prevalence ranged from 2.2—3.5%. The EMPs’ CCI increased from 0.257 to 0.491. At baseline 47.3%/5.1%/0.2%/1.2% of EMPs had leaves for SL/STD/LTD/WC, lasting 5.02/34.05/147.54/45.12 mean days with PMTs of 100%/70.0%/37.3%/87.8%. From 2002—2019: 26.2—68.2% of EMPs used SL lasting 84.1—224.4% of baseline days (BDs); 3.5—6.1% of EMPs filed STD claims lasting 87.3-145.0% of BDs at 87.5—138.1% of baseline PMTs; 0.2—0.5% of EMPs filed LTD claims lasting 58.6—618.4% of BDs and 42.7—150.6% PMTs; 0.4—1.3% of EMPs filed WC claims lasting 91.5—926.1% of BDs and 76.2—288.9% PMTs. PMTs were highest in 2006 for STD, 2018 for LTD, 2006 for WC. Days of leave were longest in 2017 for SL & STD, 2006 for LTD, 2005 for WC. Management of cancer for employees providing care for their partners/spouses is a growing concern for employers. The impact of caring for a partner varies over time and benefit. Use of constant proxies for absence cost estimates is inappropriate.