Every retail manager wants upbeat, positive employees greeting customers. After all, great service from happy, healthy employees often paves the way for higher sales. Disney, for instance, pays almost the entire health insurance premium for even its part-time workers because its leaders recognize the importance of cheerful, friendly staff for its parks’ success.

Of course, not all retailers have the resources to do this. Between skyrocketing insurance costs, high turnover, and plenty of part-time workers, finding a manageable and affordable insurance solution can be dizzyingly difficult.

For starters, retail workers, whose pay averaged $17.51 per hour nationally in August, typically can’t afford private insurance premiums at an industry average of $5,355 per year for individual coverage and $14,979 for families.

And those employers who opt to self-insure — bearing some or part of the risk of covering employees — can incur six-figure costs if even a few workers ring up healthcare expenses.

It’s not an ideal situation, but fortunately, it’s far from unsolvable. Retail employers can turn to Medicaid to provide the quality care their workers deserve while improving employee satisfaction — all while saving money for the company.

What Medicaid Does for Workers

The reality is that Medicaid can provide quality care for eligible workers at little to no cost to them.

There’s ample evidence that Medicaid improves enrollees’ health outcomes. For example, a 2012 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine found that enrollees experienced reduced mortality and improved access to care in states that expanded Medicaid before the Affordable Care Act. Another study, a rigorous randomized trial in Oregon, found that Medicaid increased the diagnosis and treatment of diabetes and reduced depression in covered patients.

Medicaid also can ease the financial burdens of healthcare for low-income workers. Medicaid enrollees are 40 percent less likely to incur medical debt than Medicaid-eligible people who aren’t covered by the program. While commonly offered high-deductible plans require employees to pay out of pocket before coverage kicks in, Medicaid has a $0 deductible. That’s crucial when workers need immediate emergency care.

In addition, Medicaid-covered employees pay no or limited premiums in most states and only nominal co-pays. Better yet, family coverage, including dental services and vision care, comes at no additional cost.

What Medicaid Does for Employers

Family coverage is much costlier through private insurance than through Medicaid. By offering Medicaid, employers can reduce health insurance costs through lower premiums. They can also avoid self-insurance snafus because costly employees are more likely to enroll in the company’s healthcare plan. When these employees opt for Medicaid, employers no longer bear the risk of unexpectedly high medical claims.

Companies whose eligible workers take advantage of Medicaid benefits also see “soft” savings, especially when previously uninsured workers gain coverage. Employers can achieve a reduction in turnover — and a corresponding drop in hiring and training costs — by showing that Medicaid is an attractive, low-cost alternative to the company plan.

Companies shouldn’t overlook absenteeism, either. Productivity losses from personal and family health problems cost U.S. employers a whopping $225.8 billion annually. Accordingly, Medicaid coverage translates to higher employer confidence that the business will be adequately staffed.

Employees’ Medicaid enrollment can have a real and immediate impact on many retail companies and their workers. Medicaid coverage improves the health, productivity, and general well-being of employees while helping business owners contain costs and stay competitive in the marketplace.

Benjamin Geyerhahn is an experienced entrepreneur, a healthcare policy expert, and a member of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Health Benefit Exchange Regional Advisory Committee. He is the founder and CEO of BeneStream, which uses a combination of technology and a multilingual call center to guide employers and employees through the Medicaid enrollment process.