Is your company looking for a way to both decrease its healthcare costs and help employees attain better health? Try wellness programs and make sure to offer incentives.
A recent study from the National Business Group on Health and Watson Wyatt reported that almost half (46%) of the employers they interviewed offer financial incentives to encourage healthy behaviors.
Incentives are translating into bottom-line savings, according to Interactive Health Solutions (IHS), Arlington Heights, Ill., a provider of population health management programs. Companies using their programs spend $2,850 less per employee on annual healthcare costs.
"Choosing to steer our resources toward preventative care and providing opportunities for health care screening was a shift in philosophy for us. We had been focusing on providing care when people became sick. As result of our screening we were able to help employees avoid some major illnesses and when it comes down to it that's the core of what we want to do for our employees," explains Chuck Aardema, Vice President, Human Resources of totes-Isotoner Corp. The company, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, is the world's largest marketer of umbrellas, gloves, rainwear, rubber overshoes and other weather-related accessories and has 1,100 employees.
To support this new philosophy totes offers 100% preventative care coverage as well as health coaches. And to make it very easy for employees to participate in this voluntary program, employee screenings and evaluations are given onsite during the weekday at most company locations.
"Part of the broad message is that these types of programs can help combat rapidly rising health care costs in general and also can help employees better manage their own costs, explains Karen Logan, Benefits Manager at totes, which was recently named as a finalist in the 2007 designation, Healthiest Companies in America, by IHS.
The IHS program addresses healthcare concerns before they become problematic -- when employees are still at the "no risk" stage. "We employ a very basic premise at our client companies, which is "don't get sick, get help," versus, "get sick, then get help," says Joseph O'Brien, IHS president. "This means that employees are being assessed before they are symptomatic, rather than after they become ill and start incurring medical costs."
"As a company who produces health-related products, our philosophy of emphasizing wellness measures in our workforce was natural. We encourage employees to become more accountable for their health and so we offer lifestyle coaching tied directly to health evaluations," explains Christine Frazier, Manager, Insurance Benefits and Wellness for Nature's Sunshine Products. Nature's Sunshine Products manufactures herbal products, natural vitamins and other complementary products.
Nature's Sunshine does not charge its employees premiums for their health coverage and wants to continue that practice. But with costs increasing they are now asking employees to join the wellness program in order to keep premiums free. In the first year 95% of employees participated. As the program enters its third year, the company is ramping up the requirements and asking employees to meet objectives that have been individualized for them through the IHS program.
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