Corporate Wellness Blog

Here’s more evidence that health promotion programs pay for themselves –

Over the last two years, one business in five has seen significant improvement in employees’ health status – and began to stabilize their costs – as reported by one study.

Among firms noting improvement, almost 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. Health coach outreach

A lot of firms require staff to work with a personal wellness coach to get a discount on monthly premiums or earn cash incentives.

The most common set-up –  on a regular basis, the employee 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.

People  get off to a great 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 staff members to contact the wellness Coach, a growing number of corporations require participants to take calls from the wellness Coach.

Potential result –  Fewer folks fall off the wagon. There’s no outreach effort involved, and the health coach keeps individuals  accountable.

2. Nutritional education/therapy

A newer – and cost-effective – feature in the battle against worker obesity –  offering an worker nutrition-education program administered by a professional nutritionist.

Just 11 percent of corporations – 18 percent  of large businesss and 7.5 percent of small to medium ones – have such health promotion programs, according to SHRM’s most recent benefits survey.

Even fewer offer (via their EAPs) nutritional therapy for individuals  with eating disorders. But available data on these health promotion programs shows they usually pay for themselves.

The stronger the firm’s emphasis on teaching healthful consuming, the faster and more dramatic the reduction in major health claims.

Common plan features –  lunch and learns featuring healthy food options, giving out nutrition-linked gift cards and extending obesity-prevention incentives to people ’s family members.

3. Assertive smoking cessation

A small, but quickly growing number of businesss are taking more aggressive measures to avoid the costs associated with workforce who smoke.

The step can be broken down into three levels of aggressiveness and potential risk/reward.

Level one –  the company installs a wellness program in which non-tobacco use staff members and those who commit to maintaining a healthy weight receive financial incentives that lower their share of monthly premiums.

Level two –  the corporation disqualifies job candidates who smoke from hiring consideration. Alternatively, some firms require health risks assessments as a condition of being hired.

Level three –  the business docks pay or fires employees who fail to control their lifestyle-related health risks.

Example –  Clarian Health made news last fall for sending notice to employees that as of Jan. 1,  2009, individuals  who smoke or chew tobacco would start 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 who quit use of tobacco but illegal to punish those who attempt and fail. If an employee tries but fails to quit use of tobacco, you’re still legally obligated to give them another shot next year.

Likewise rememberthat, 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 when such policies would hold up in court. Proceed with caution.