Controversial Wellness Strategies.
Here is more evidence that health promotion programs pay for themselves -
Over the last two years, one company in five has seen meaningful improvement in employees’ health status â.” and started to stabilize their costs â.” according to one study.
Among firms noting improvement, nearly two-thirds (64%) feature wellness programs offering incentives for healthier lifestyles.
Here are three twists on traditional incentives that’re getting good results -
1. Health coach outreach
A lot of firms require workforce to work with an individual wellness coach for 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.
People get off to a great start â.” and they’re enthusiastic about the incentive â.” 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 individuals on the right track. Rather than requiring workforce to contact the wellness Coach, a growing number of companies 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 â.” and cost-effective â.” feature in the battle against worker obesity – offering an worker nutrition-education program administered by a specialist nutritionist.
Just 11 percent of companies â.” 18 percent of big corporations and 7.5 percent of small to medium ones â.” have such health promotion programs, as reported by SHRM’s most recent benefits survey.
Even fewer offer (via their EAPs) nutritional therapy for people with eating disorders. But available data on these wellness programs shows they ordinarily pay for themselves.
The stronger the firm’s emphasis on teaching healthy consuming, the faster and more dramatic the reduction in major health claims.
Common plan features – lunch and learns featuring healthful food choices, giving out nutrition-linked gift cards and extending obesity-prevention incentives to people ’s family members.
3. Assertive use of tobacco cessation
A small, but quickly growing number of businesss are taking more assertive measures to avoid the costs associated with workers 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-use of tobacco staff and those who commit to maintaining a healthy weight receive financial incentives that lower their share of monthly premiums.
Level two – the business disqualifies job candidates who smoke from hiring consideration. Alternatively, some firms require health risks assessments as a condition of being hired.
Level three – the corporation docks pay or fires personnel 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, people 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. HIPAAs non-discrimination rules permit such incentives within limits.
In a nutshell, it’s legal to reward workforce 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.
Furthermore 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.