Wellness Programs : Controversial Wellness Strategies.
Here’s more evidence that health promotion programs pay for themselves –
Over the last two years, one company in five has seen significant betterment in employees’ health status – and started to stabilize their costs – as reported by one study.
Among firms noting improvement, nearly two-thirds (64%) feature wellness programs offering incentives for healthier life choices.
Here are three twists on traditional incentives that’re getting good results –
1. Wellness coach outreach
Many firms require workers to work with a personal health coach to get a discount on monthly premiums or earn cash incentives.
The most common set-up – on a regular basis, the worker must set up appointments with and report to (either over the phone or face to face) his or her health Coach.
But experience has shown there’s often a high dropout rate.
Individuals get off to a excellent begin – and they’re enthusiastic about the incentive – but once they realize there’s some effort involved, they lose interest.
The good news – Firms have found a simple-to-arrange alternative that keeps people on the right track. Rather than requiring workers to contact the health Coach, a growing number of organizations require participants to take calls from the health Coach.
Potential result – Fewer folks fall off the wagon. There’s no outreach effort involved, and the wellness coach keeps people accountable.
2. Nutritional education/therapy
A newer – and cost-effective – feature in the battle against employee obesity – offering an employee nutrition-education program administered by a professional nutritionist.
Just 11 percent of companies – 18 percent of big employers and 7.5 percent of small to medium ones – have such wellness programs, according to SHRM’s most recent benefits survey.
Even fewer offer (via their EAPs) nutritional therapy for people with eating disorders. But available data on these health promotion programs shows they typically pay for themselves.
The stronger the firm’s emphasis on teaching healthy eating, the faster and more dramatic the reduction in major health claims.
Common plan features – lunch and learns featuring healthy food choices, giving out nutrition-linked gift cards and extending obesity-prevention incentives to people ’s family members.
3. Aggressive use of tobacco cessation
A small, but quickly growing number of businesss are taking more assertive measures to avoid the costs associated with staff members who smoke.
The step may be broken down into three levels of aggressiveness and potential risk/reward.
Level one – the corporation installs a health promotion program in which non-smoking personnel and those who commit to maintaining a healthy weight receive financial incentives that lower their share of monthly premiums.
Level two – the company disqualifies job candidates who smoke from hiring consideration. Alternatively, some firms require health risks assessments as a condition of being hired.
Level three – the employer docks pay or fires staff who fail to control their lifestyle-related health risks.
Example – Clarian Health made news last fall for sending notice to workforce that as of Jan. 1, 2009, individuals who smoke or chew tobacco would begin be charged $5 per paycheck.
Are these strategies legal? at level one, the answer is a qualified yes. health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA)s non-discrimination rules permit such incentives within limits.
In a nutshell, it’s legal to reward staff members who quit tobacco use but illegal to punish those who attempt and fail. When an employee tries but fails to quit tobacco use, you’re still legally obligated to give them another shot next year.
Likewise keep in mindthat, by law, the size of the reward or penalty under your wellness program can’t exceed 20% of the total cost of coverage.
At levels two and three, it remains to be seen if such policies would hold up in court. Proceed with caution.
