Month: August 2024

Learn more at Aflac.com/WellnessMatters

COLUMBUS, Ga., August 13, 2024 /3BL/ — August is National Wellness Month, a time to emphasize the importance of prioritizing personal health care; yet, the second annual Wellness Matters survey1 released by Aflac, a leading provider of supplemental health insurance in the U.S.,2shows many Americans are not taking charge of their health through preventive care, routine wellness checkups and important screenings that could help identify and treat serious illness early.3 Additionally, for many Hispanic Americans, language is a barrier for understanding both their medical needs and insurance policies.

Millennials and Gen Z say they’re focused on health, but are taking a chance by skipping wellness checkups

The study uncovered an alarming 3 in 5 Americans (60%; up 20% from 2023) have avoided common recommended health screenings. And in fact, Millennials admit to avoiding important health screenings at higher rates — pap smear (40% millennial women; 34% women overall); STD screening (32% millennials; 23% overall); full body skin cancer exam (31% millennials; 27% overall); and blood test (39% millennials; 32% overall).3 

Additionally, young Americans say they frequently or always worry about their physical and mental health — even more than other significant concerns such as their social media reputations, getting a promotion at work and politics. However, when it comes to important health screenings, many admit to putting off a checkup beyond the recommended timeframe at least occasionally — 84% of millennials and 82% of Gen Z — at higher rates than the general population (77%). Many are using convenience care for their health care needs instead of keeping regular wellness appointments — with 70% of Gen Z and 67% of millennials primarily using urgent care or the emergency room for their health care needs.3 

Many aren’t listening to their bodies, with 20% of Gen Z and millennials putting off seeing their doctor even though they had a nagging feeling something was wrong — compared to 13% of Gen X and 11% baby boomers.

“Feeling healthy” and logistical barriers keep Americans from their doctor

Getting to the doctor is not easy for young Americans, as logistical barriers prevent them from getting health screenings on time — with 58% of millennials citing conflicts with work hours, challenges taking time off work and difficulty getting a babysitter or transportation. Many Hispanic respondents (42%) indicate language is a barrier to understanding their health care needs, and the same portion say it is a barrier to understanding their insurance benefits. Additionally, feeling healthy or “not needing health checkups at their age” kept 31% of Gen Z and 31% of millennials from getting checkups on time. Feeling embarrassed and not liking/trusting doctors — 31% millennials; 18% Gen X; 14% baby boomers — were among other reasons. Men — both Hispanic (29%) and non-Hispanic (26%) — were more likely to skip wellness appointments because they felt healthy and/or didn’t feel they needed a checkup at their age.3

When Aflac Senior Vice President and Chief Actuary Thomas Morey was in his mid-20s, he experienced a significant and sudden health crisis, showing that one can never be too young to develop good health habits. The condition kept Morey out of work for nearly two years, and he was in and out of hospitals for 18 months. 

“As our study shows, younger people are often less concerned about health care issues than older ones, and the statistics do support the idea that becoming ill is often a function of age,” said Morey. “But what I learned is that percentages don’t really mean much when it is happening to you. That is why I am a strong proponent of learning how to care for yourself, even when you are feeling strong. Going to the doctor for wellness checkups and recommended screenings is something everyone should strive to do.” 

Early detection at risk

Surprisingly, survey respondents who have received a cancer diagnosis were more likely to have avoided common health screenings than those who have not, underscoring the importance of regular screenings. Among those diagnosed with cancer, 56% say they found out as the result of a regularly scheduled cancer screening or routine exam. Hispanics who received a cancer diagnosis reported being diagnosed during a regularly scheduled cancer screening (40% versus 30% non-Hispanics; 24% African Americans).3

More than half of Americans report a family history of chronic illness/disease, yet 60% admit to skipping important health and cancer screenings. Men also are more likely to forget to schedule an annual physical or health exam (35% versus 29% women).3

“Family history matters to preventive care because history and genetics can often help inform the future of our own health,” said Morey. “This is why Aflac is also focused on helping consumers be more aware and empowered to start good health habits early and continue to prioritize proactive health care as they age.”

Community matters in preventive care practices 

In the survey, African Americans (59%) and Hispanics (50%) said they are more likely to seek preventive care from health professionals from similar communities and backgrounds. Additionally, African Americans are more likely to stay on top of wellness appointments and less likely to report skipping important wellness exams (54% versus 62% of Caucasians). African Americans are more likely than other ethnicities to say that they prioritize annual well visits, annual vision exams, recommended screenings and healthy habits. After identifying a health concern, 40% of African Americans immediately contact their physician to make an appointment, versus 38% of Hispanics, 31% of Caucasians and 24% of Asian Americans).3

The survey reinforces how much support matters — and the value of advocating for yourself and the ones you love to both schedule and keep important wellness checkups. Nearly 7 in 10 are more likely to go to the doctor if a friend or loved one encouraged them to go. Hispanic respondents are more likely to report that encouragement is effective. Men also are more likely than women to see a doctor if encouraged by a loved one (73% versus 65%). Community matters more to Hispanic respondents, who are less likely to select themselves as their strongest health advocate (67%) compared to non-Hispanics (78%).3 The survey also found that Hispanic Americans rely heavily on family encouragement for health care, and parents are regarded as top health advocates by more Hispanics (37%) than non-Hispanics (25%).3 This emphasizes the powerful role of familial relationships in health advocacy within the Hispanic community.

“Life moves quickly, and sometimes, we can lose sight of what’s important for good health and wellness — but when you do stop and think about it, what is more important than your health? Taking charge of your health can start when you are young, by making your own wellness appointments and encouraging those you care for to do the same,” said Morey. “The Wellness Matters survey reinforces the value of proactive health habits. It also reminds us how much preventive care matters and to take more ownership of our health, regardless of age, gender or ethnicity.”

To learn more about the 2024 Wellness Matters survey and to find tips on how to take charge of your own health and encourage others to prioritize theirs, visit Aflac.com/WellnessMatters. 

ABOUT THE 2024 WELLNESS MATTERS SURVEY 
The 2024 Aflac Wellness Matters Survey, examining attitudes, habits and opinions about health and preventive care, was conducted among a nationally representative sample of 2,000 employed U.S. adults ages 18-65 in April 2024 by Kantar Profiles on behalf of Aflac. 

ABOUT AFLAC INCORPORATED 

Aflac Incorporated (NYSE: AFL), a Fortune 500 company, has helped provide financial protection and peace of mind for more than 68 years to millions of policyholders and customers through its subsidiaries in the U.S. and Japan. In the U.S., Aflac is the No. 1 provider of supplemental health insurance products.2 In Japan, Aflac Life Insurance Japan is the leading provider of cancer and medical insurance in terms of policies in force. The company takes pride in being there for its policyholders when they need us most, as well as being included in the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere for 18 consecutive years (2024), Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies for 23 years (2024) and Bloomberg’s Gender-Equality Index for the fourth consecutive year (2023). In addition, the company became a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) in 2021 and has been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (2023) for 10 years. To find out how to get help with expenses health insurance doesn’t cover, get to know us at aflac.com or aflac.com/espanol. Investors may learn more about Aflac Incorporated and its commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainability at investors.aflac.com under “Sustainability.”

Media contact: Jon Sullivan, 706-763-4813 or jsullivan@aflac.com

Analyst and investor contact: David A. Young, 706-596-3264, 800-235-2667 or dyoung@aflac.com

1 2024 Wellness Matters survey 
2 LIMRA 2023 US Supplemental Health Insurance Total Market Report 
3 2024 Wellness Matters survey results

Aflac’s family of insurers include American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus, American Family Life Assurance Company of New York, Continental American Insurance Company, and Tier One Insurance Company. 

Aflac | WWHQ | 1932 Wynnton Road | Columbus, GA 31999

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Originally published in American Airlines’ 2023 Sustainability Report

Sustainable Aviation Fuel

The clearest near-term way to decarbonize aviation based on current technological developments is by transitioning to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The SAF available on the market today can reduce life cycle GHG emissions by up to 85% compared with conventional, petroleum-based jet fuel, and new technologies and pathways hold the promise of delivering SAF with closer to 100% life cycle emission reductions. The reality, however, is that as critical as SAF is for achieving our own and the industry’s climate goals, it is not yet available at the scale or price needed to be a feasible alternative for widespread commercial use — and achieving that will require the combined efforts of the private and public sectors.

How American is helping accelerate solutions

Purchasing and helping scale SAF production is a core part of American’s climate strategy this decade. For example, we anticipate SAF will be key to achieving the insector reductions required to meet our science-based target for 2035, and we have set a goal to replace 10% of our jet fuel use with SAF in 2030. In 2023, we used nearly 2.7 million gallons of SAF on our flights, about a 4% increase over 2022, but still a small portion of the SAF we need to achieve our goal.

American is entering into offtake commitments with SAF producers to help secure the supply we need to achieve our goal. We’re also working to advance the SAF market as an anchor member of Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, which invests in new decarbonization technologies. (See page 19 to read about our innovative agreement with Infinium.) Additionally, we continue to advocate for governments to deploy policy tools — including incentives, credits and investments in research — to help scale the SAF market.

The need for concerted action to scale the SAF market

The availability of SAF increased in 2023, but to reach the industry’s goal of producing 3 billion gallons of cost-competitive SAF in 2030, the market needs to achieve a nearly 100% compound annual growth rate, based on Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) data.1 Clearly, there is a need to significantly accelerate the trajectory for the SAF market, which will require concerted effort by a range of stakeholders. Airlines have a key role to play, but it will also require engine and airframe manufacturers to enable higher SAF blends and the research community to advance innovation in the form of new SAF pathways. The energy sector needs to align its capital commitments, while the financial sector must find more effective ways to support the SAF market. Standard setters need to recognize new solutions, and policymakers need to enact smart policies that will drive further investment in the industry.

Advancing Next-Generation SAF Pathways

Achieving the decarbonization potential of SAF will be a journey, with the feedstocks that are available today being replaced over time with more efficient ones that provide greater reductions in life cycle emissions.

The past year has seen some progress, including the creation of U.S. Airline Principles on Use of Book and Claim in Sustainable Aviation Fuel Accounting, which provides a robust market mechanism for efficiently connecting SAF buyers and producers. The enactment of a SAF purchase tax credit in Illinois and the release of U.S. Treasury Department guidance on implementation of the SAF blenders tax credit (BTC) — enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 — are further evidence of U.S. policy moving in the right direction, although the SAF BTC expires at the end of 2024. The advocacy efforts of initiatives such as the Low Carbon Fuels Coalition, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) SAF working group and the SAF Coalition — all initiatives in which American participates — have and will continue to be key in driving policy progress.

Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids

Hydroprocessed Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) is the only SAF process producing jet fuel at scale today, but the supply of HEFA feedstocks — particularly used cooking oil and animal fat — is constrained and there are concerns that demand for these feedstocks could have other indirect environmental impacts.

Alcohol-to-Jet

Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) technology relies on ethanol as a feedstock to produce SAF, but it is not yet available at scale for commercial use by airlines. New feedstocks, farming practices and production processes offer the potential to significantly reduce ATJ GHG emissions compared to those that exist today, but they could potentially increase cost.

Fischer-Tropsch

Fischer-Tropsch (FT) gasification has the potential to produce SAF that virtually eliminates GHG emissions while also using waste products, like municipal solid waste, as a feedstock. FT can also use CO2 captured from industrial emissions — and one day CO2 removed from the atmosphere — but that process is still very expensive. While FT is a proven technology in other applications, successfully commercializing it for aviation has been difficult.

American’s SAF Sourcing Principles

In determining what SAF to source for our operations, we apply the following standards for sustainability: Life cycle GHG emissions reductions of at least 50%, inclusive of estimated indirect land use change, compared with conventional jet fuelAnalyze environmental and social impacts of SAF feedstocks, such as potential effects on food supply and land useAchievement of sustainability certification, or completion of our own due diligence when certification is not practical2 

Our SAF use and advocacy is also guided by the following principles:

Maintain strict adherence to jet fuel safety and performance standardsEngage and collaborate with stakeholders across the private and public sectors to break down barriers to SAF production and distributionUndertake robust and transparent emissions accounting and work within our industry to further develop and harmonize SAF emissions accounting

Raising the Bar on SAF

Infinium is a U.S.-based provider of electrofuels — also known as eFuels. It is producing a sustainable aviation fuel, eSAF, by converting waste CO2 , water and renewable power into clean-burning aviation fuel

Infinium eSAF has the potential to reduce life cycle GHG emissions by approximately 90%, which is greater than the emissions reductions achieved using the SAF currently on the market today

The company plans to repurpose an existing brownfield gas-to-liquids project in West Texas into a first-of-its-kind, commercial-scale Power-to-Liquids (PtL) eFuels facility to produce eSAF. In 2023, Breakthrough Energy Catalyst announced its commitment to invest $75 million in Infinium’s PtL project. To further support this investment and help accelerate the production of eFuels, American and Infinium have entered into a firm offtake agreement for Infinium to supply eSAF to the airline.

This innovative technology will be further supported by a second agreement between banking leader Citi and American, in which American will transfer the associated emissions reduction from the Infinium eSAF directly to Citi — enabling Citi to reduce a portion of its Scope 3 emissions generated by employee travel. Citi is also a partner of Breakthrough Energy Catalyst.

These novel agreements are critical enablers of further investment in Infinium’s facility.

1 https://afdc.energy.gov/fuels/sustainable-aviation-fuel

2 As part of our due diligence, we refer to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Guidance for Responsible Agricultural Supply Chains and other leading references to help mitigate and manage the sustainability risk of SAF produced using bio-based feedstocks.

Read more.