4 Tips for Cybersecurity Month, Weight Loss Drugs as a Benefit, Holiday Sales Predictions

Hey, everybody, it's Gene Marks and welcome to this week's episode of the Paychex THRIVE Week and Review podcast, where we pick a few news items from the news that impact your small business and mine, and we discuss them for a little bit. Let's get right to the news. 

The first has to do with Cybersecurity Month that is October, the month that we are in. It is Cybersecurity Month, and the Small Business Administration has got some advice and some thoughts. First of all, in a recent article that the SBA published on sba.gov, they cited a study by IBM and the Ponemon Institute. The average data breach cost for small businesses with less than 500 employees – you ready – $3 million, and the average cost of each breached record is $164 per record.

Cybersecurity incidents can paralyze your business and destroy customer trust, and recovering from these attacks is explosive. According to the U.S. Chamber, a majority – 60% – of small businesses say cybersecurity threats, including phishing, malware and ransomware are a top concern. 

The SBA has some advice; they recommend that you do four main things for your business. Number one, create and use strong passwords. Number two, always use multi-factor authentication where you can. Number three, be aware and report phishing, and always keep your software updated. 

So, the SBA reporting on cybersecurity threats during Cybersecurity Month. They're up. They're costly. We should be taking some steps against them. 

The second story that we have has to do from the Philadelphia Business Journal. The headline of the article is that employers are leaving out a coveted benefit as their healthcare plan costs soar. Can you guess what that benefit is? Well, as it turns out, a lot of employees are requesting weight loss drugs. 

It's a survey from employer sponsored healthcare plans for employees with 200 workers or more by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Despite a surge in interest, though, in these weight loss drugs, like Wegovy® and Ozempic, not many employers are offering coverage. Now, they found that just 18% of employers organizations are covering weight loss drugs. The number of employers that are covering weight loss drugs tends to go up as the, you know, the size of the organization grows. 

The demand for weight loss drugs, because they've been so popular, has driven the cost through the roof. Medications are reaching more than $900 a month for a month's supply, although the report says that costs can vary. According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, these soaring prices mean the potential cost for employers for including coverage of the drugs in their healthcare plans could be huge, with up to 50 million Americans potentially qualifying for these drugs, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. It's a decision that many employers have been grappling with for much of the year.

So, the takeaway is these drugs – weight loss drugs – are very, very popular but very, very expensive, right now. A small percentage of employers – smaller employers – are providing coverage for these weight loss drugs. That percentage may go up, particularly as larger organizations are providing the coverage. 

Finally, as we head into the holiday season, the National Retail Federation released this past week their forecast for holiday sales. They expect holiday sales to grow between 2.5 and 3.5% compared to 2023, which equates to between $980 billion and $989 billion in total holiday spending in November and December, compared with $955 billion a year ago. 

President and CEO Matthew Shay of the NRF says the economy remains fundamentally healthy and continues to maintain this momentum heading into the final months of the year. The winter holidays are on an important part for American families and their capacity to spend will continue to be supported by a strong job market and wage growth.

My name is Gene Marks and you've been watching and listening to the Paychex THRIVE Week in Review. If you'd like some advice or tips help running your business, please sign up for our Paychex THRIVE newsletter. Go to paychex.com/thrive. 

Thanks for listening and watching. We'll see you again next week.

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