SPECIAL REPORT
Beyond the Hype
Make Wellness Work
For Your Workplace
30613060
SPECIAL REPORT
Beyond the Hype
Make Wellness Work
For Your Workplace
30613000
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
Table of Contents
Introduction: What Is Workplace Wellness—and Can It Really Work? . . . . . . . . . .1
Making the Business Case: Worker Wellness Makes for Healthy Businesses . . . .8
Making the Case that Now Is the Time: Consumer-Driven Health Plans . . . . . .11
Operating Plan: Get Your Wellness Programs in Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Financial Incentives: Show Everyone the Money . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
Employee Engagement: Happy, Healthy Employees Get More Done . . . . . . . . . .17
Wellness Culture: How to Create One on a Small Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Legal Considerations: Beware Legal Landmines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
Case Study: Easy, Affordable Wellness Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Case Study: Wellness in the Lunchroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Case Study: On-site Wellness Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Case Study: HMO Incentive Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30613000
iv
Introduction: What Is Workplace
Wellness—and Can It Really Work?
Wellness is big. And wellness is everywhere—from national initiatives to get Americans to lose weight, kids to get active, and college students not to drink and drive,
to local schools under pressure to serve healthier meals in cafeterias or to sell
healthier foods in vending machines.
Wellness works! Or does it…? And what is wellness, really? Can a workplace wellness program actually result in a return on investment in your workplace? Can you
really change your employees’ behavior and overall health and wellness?
There are ample reasons to be skeptical. Wellness programs cost money and time.
Too, they are preventive and preemptive, which can be tricky when it comes to
proving cost effectiveness. Furthermore, the greatest return on investment takes, on
average, 3 to 5 years.
Yet, in this age of skyrocketing healthcare costs and the progressively deteriorating
health of the average American citizen, there are similarly ample reasons—and
proof—that an effective workplace wellness program will result in a healthy return.
The operative word being, of course, effective. An ineffective program will not necessarily offer any payback, and may, in fact, result in resources (time, energy, funds,
opportunity, and costs) being utilized without notable results. Too, an ineffective
program is unlikely to engage employees and change their behavior. And a program that isn’t well executed runs the risk of actually demotivating employees, who
may perceive the program doesn’t have full support of your organization.
As with any program, your wellness program needs to be well-focused and wellexecuted to succeed. In other words, the more you target your wellness program to
the health concerns of your employees and their families as well as to the initiatives that your employees need and want, and the more effectively you execute the
program with frequent communication and widespread employee buy-in, the
more effective it will be. Effective, that is, in terms of a healthy return on investment
that your finance department—and your employees—will love!
The deteriorating state of employee wellness is a proven trend. Consider the
following:
◆
Costs of health care
Total health expenditures per capita were $6,280 in 2004, more than double 1990
expenditures. In 2005, premiums for family coverage increased 9.2 percent, the first
year of single digit increases since 2000 and the second consecutive year that premium increases were less than they were in the previous year. While lower than in
recent years, the 9.2 percent increase in the cost of coverage exceeds the overall
rate of inflation by nearly 6 percentage points and exceeds the increase in workers’
earnings by more than 6 percentage points. Since 2000, the cost of premiums for
family coverage has increased by 73 percent. Although growth in health insurance
premiums has moderated from 2004 to 2006, it continues to outpace inflation and
average wage growth. Since the year 2000, health insurance premiums have grown
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30613000
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by 87 percent, compared with cumulative inflation of 18 percent and cumulative
wage growth of 20 percent. (Source: Kaiser Family Foundation)
◆
Trends in obesity and weight among Americans
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), almost 1 in 5
American adults is now considered obese and more than half of all Americans are
overweight.
Since the early 1960s, the percent of overweight American adults has increased
from 45 percent to 65 percent.
Among adults 20–74 years of age, weight and obesity rates have increased since
1960–1962. These increases are driven largely by increases in the percentage of
adults who are obese. From 1960–1962 through 2003–2004, the percentage of
overweight but not obese adults has remained steady at 32 percent to 34 percent
(age adjusted). During that time period, the percentage of obese adults has
increased from 13 percent to 34 percent (age adjusted). (Source: CDC’s National
Center for Health Statistics (NCHS))
◆
Aging workforce
The United States spends more on health per capita than any other country, and
health spending continues to increase rapidly. Much of this spending is for care
that controls or reduces the impact of chronic diseases and conditions affecting
an aging population. And the population age 65 and over is increasing at a faster
rate than the total population. In 2004, national healthcare expenditures in the
United States totaled $1.9 trillion, a 7.9 percent increase from 2003. (Source:
NCHS)
◆
Sedentary lifestyles
According to the Surgeon General’s Report on Physical Activity & Health, 1996, more
than 60 percent of adults do not achieve the recommended amount of regular
physical activity, and 25 percent of all adults are not active at all. In addition,
approximately one-half of the youth in this country are not active on a regular
basis.
According to the CDC, only 30 percent of adults participate in regular “leisure-time”
activities, 40 percent in no regular activity, and 30 percent in “some leisure-time activity.”
◆
Stress
According to the American Journal of Health Promotion, 1996, 72 percent of Americans experience frequent stress-related physical or mental conditions, and 75 percent to 90 percent of visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related
problems.
◆
Smoking
According to the American Cancer Society and the CDC, since the release of the
Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health in 1964, Americans have
smoked 17 trillion cigarettes and approximately 10 million people in the United
States have died from smoking-related causes. Incredibly, despite the known
health risks of smoking, 3,000 young people begin smoking every day!
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
In 2003, 22 percent of high school students reported smoking cigarettes on one or
more days of the 30 days preceding the survey, and 10 percent reported smoking
frequently—that is, on 20 days or more in the 30 days preceding the survey.
(Source: NCHS)
However, in looking at the simple statistic of the change in behavior among smokers in the past 40 years, we can see that behavior change is possible. In 1965,
almost 42 percent of all adults smoked. By 2004, that percentage was down to less
than 21 percent. These simple statistics indicate that behavior can, indeed, change.
Most diseases result from a complex interaction between inherited risk factors and
environmental risk factors such as diet, lifestyle, and social factors. Adopting a
healthy lifestyle, which includes being physically active, eating nutritiously, and
avoiding tobacco, can prevent or help to control many diseases. Benefits of regular
physical activity include a reduced risk of premature mortality and reduced risks
of coronary heart disease, diabetes, colon cancer, hypertension, and osteoporosis.
Regular physical activity also improves symptoms associated with musculoskeletal
conditions and mental health conditions, such as depression and anxiety. In addition, physical activity can enhance physical functioning and aid in weight control.
Physical activity, along with a healthy diet, plays an important role in the prevention of obesity and weight gain. Monitoring levels of regular physical activity is of
particular concern because of the increasing prevalence of weight problems and
obesity in the United States. (Source: NCHS)
Should you need further evidence of the need to improve wellness in our workplaces and homes, consider the following additional statistics:
◆
More than 95 percent of our nation’s health expenditures, including
most of the billions of dollars employers spend on health coverage, is
committed to diagnosing and treating disease only after it becomes
manifest. (Source: Partnership for Prevention)
◆
Researchers have estimated that preventable illnesses make up
approximately 70 percent of the burden of illness and the associated
costs. (Source: New England Journal of Medicine)
◆
Poor health habits take an enormous toll on American business.
Consider the following:
—It costs employers an average of $1,300 per year for an employee who smokes.
—Workplace alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use costs U.S. companies more
than $100 billion each year.
—Up to 40 percent of industrial fatalities can be linked to alcohol consumption and alcoholism.
—Job stress is estimated to cost American industry $200 billion to $300 billion
annually.
—The National Safety Council estimates that 1 million employees are absent
on an average workday because of stress-related problems.
—Work injuries cost employers $121 billion in medical care, lost productivity,
and wages.
—At least 100 million workdays are lost each year to lower back pain at a cost
to employers of about $20 billion.
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—A worker is injured every 5 seconds.
—A worker is temporarily or permanently disabled every 10 seconds.
(Source: CDC)
The bad news for the financial health of U.S. workplaces is that they are
shouldering most of the burden of the increased physical health costs of
their employees. In order to remain financially healthy, employers must pass
along the added health insurance costs to their employees in the form of raised
premiums, co-pays, and deductibles. But this sequence of actions can’t be the ultimate cure.
There has to be an end to the upward spiral of ill health causing increasing healthcare costs causing financial burdens on companies and consumers alike. But how
do we end it? What is the ultimate cure?
For more and more organizations, the cure is workplace wellness. If
you’re reading this guide, chances are good your workplace is one of the
many pursuing wellness, or will be soon.
You’re not alone in that pursuit…
In response to these trends, both the public and private sectors have instituted programs to improve the overall health and wellness of the American workforce and
general population. Consider just a few initiatives:
䡲
On the national level, the National Center for Health Statistics runs “Healthy
People 2010” (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/hphome.htm), which has “a comprehensive, nationwide health promotion and disease prevention agenda.”
“In January 2000, the Department of Health and Human Services launched
Healthy People 2010, a comprehensive, nationwide health promotion and disease prevention agenda. Healthy People 2010 includes 467 objectives designed
to serve as a road map for improving the health of all people in the United
States during the first decade of the 21st century.
“Healthy People 2010 builds on similar initiatives pursued over the past two
decades. Two overarching goals—increase quality and years of healthy life, and
eliminate health disparities—served as a guide for developing objectives that
will actually measure progress. The objectives are organized in 28 focus areas,
each representing a public health area. Each objective has a target for improvements to be achieved by the year 2010. A limited set of the objectives, known
as the Leading Health Indicators, are intended to help everyone more easily
understand the importance of health promotion and disease prevention and
to encourage wide participation in improving health in the next decade. These
indicators were chosen based on their ability to motivate action, the availability of data to measure their progress, and their relevance as broad public
health issues.
“NCHS is responsible for coordinating the effort to monitor the nation’s
progress toward the objectives, using data from NCHS data systems as well as
many other data sources. National data are gathered from more than 190 different data sources, from more than seven federal government departments
(Health and Human Services, Commerce, Education, Justice, Labor, Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency), and from voluntary and private nongovernmental organizations. To the extent appropriate, data for the
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
objective are provided for subgroups defined by relevant dimensions (such as
sociodemographic subgroups of the population, health status, or geographic
classifications).
“Data are made available through DATA2010, an interactive database system
accessible through the NCHS website and the CDC WONDER system.”
䡲
䡲
On the state level, the National Governors’ Association runs “Healthy America: Where We Live, Work, and Learn” (http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/
05HUCKABEEBROCHURE.pdf), which is “about building a culture of physical
activity, prevention, and wellness in the United States.” Under the Healthy
America Initiative, the National Governors’ Association states that it will….
◆
Raise national awareness of the urgent need for Americans of all ages to
live healthier, more active lives.
◆
Convene national health and wellness experts, researchers, and practitioners to lay out the problems and discuss solutions for obesity prevention
and wellness promotion for children and adults.
◆
Hold workshops for state officials to examine state best practices, including public-private partnerships, and provide state teams with tools and
ideas for implementing programs in their states.
◆
Conduct site visits to innovative businesses and state and local programs
that are successfully implementing relevant best practices.
◆
Explore opportunities for modernizing and improving relevant state programs—including Medicaid, food stamps, and child care—to ensure they
promote and reward healthy behaviors and have measurable impacts.
◆
Provide online toolkits and websites to offer families, and policymakers
alike, useful ideas and information about healthy living.
◆
Assist states in developing programs to reverse the national epidemic of
childhood obesity.
◆
Urge every governor to implement state employee health initiatives as
models for the public and private sectors.
In the nonprofit sector, the YMCA runs “YMCA Activate America™”
(http://www.ymca.net/activateamerica/), which is “focused on making
healthy living a reality for millions of Americans.”
“YMCA Activate America™ is the YMCA’s national initiative under which
YMCAs across the country assist kids, adults, and families who want to lead a
healthy lifestyle but struggle to do so. In addition to supporting this population
called health seekers, YMCA is making a commitment to its community to promote healthy living and is collaborating with other community partners to
magnify the impact.
“Activate America YMCAs are committed to the following:
◆
Supporting those who want to lead a healthy lifestyle but struggle to do so.
◆
Being an integral part of their community’s efforts to make long-lasting
changes that support healthy living.
◆
Collaboration through partnerships with public, private, and other nonprofit organizations”
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30613000
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䡲
In the education sector, dozens of colleges and universities now emphasize
wellness as part of their campus environment or even offer health and
wellness majors to prepare the next generation to train others in how to get
well—and stay well.
䡲
Many businesses and other workplaces are participating in the Wellness Councils of America (WELCOA). WELCOA was founded in 1987 as a national nonprofit membership organization dedicated to promoting healthier lifestyles for
all Americans, especially through health promotion initiatives at worksites.
Organizationally, WELCOA serves as an umbrella, linking communities and
coalitions together into a supportive network that includes locally affiliated
Wellness Councils, Well City initiatives, Well Workplaces, and individual and corporate members throughout the United States. WELCOA also has a well workplace awards program. To date, more than 900 companies have received the
WELCOA Well Workplace award. In addition, at least eight cities have been designated as Well Cities by WELCOA, while several other cities have made the
commitment to join this group.
Wellness Defined
We’ve already summarized a number of specific initiatives that wellness programs
often encompass, from weight loss to smoking cessation to getting more active. But
before getting into more of these specifics, let’s define the big picture. What do we
mean when we discuss health and wellness? Consider these two definitions:
1. Merriam-Webster’s Eleventh Edition defines “wellness” as “the quality or state of
being in good health especially as an actively sought goal.” (emphasis
added)
2. The National Wellness Institute defines wellness as “an active process through
which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence.” (emphasis added)
The key idea in both definitions is that wellness is intentional. People decide to be
well, stay well, or get well, depending on their current health condition.
The concept of wellness encompasses every aspect of our lives. In 1979, Dr. Bill
Hettler, co-founder of the National Wellness Institute (www.nationalwellness.org),
developed a model called The Six Dimensions of Wellness, which is generally
accepted by the wellness community. The six dimensions are:
1. Physical — The first dimension we think of when referring to wellness, this
aspect covers bodily health through exercise, nutrition, and abstaining from
harmful activities, such as smoking.
2. Emotional — This dimension covers emotional health through learning to
recognize, express, and control feelings and moods.
3. Intellectual — This aspect covers mental health through developing creativity,
learning ability, and problem-solving skills.
4. Occupational — This dimension covers job satisfaction through learning
individual aptitudes and skills, and finding meaning in work.
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
5. Social — This aspect covers community connections through learning the
part we play in our interconnected world.
6. Spiritual — This dimension covers larger life questions through learning to
choose and live by a set of values that gives meaning to our lives.
Incorporating the six dimensions, a more-detailed definition of wellness emerges:
Wellness is health-promoting care that addresses our bodies, minds, emotions,
spirits, communities, and work by making healthful lifestyle choices that keep
us well in all these areas.
Given this meaning of wellness, what are the implications for the workplace?
Using the above definition of wellness, workplace wellness may be defined as:
Workplace wellness is employer-initiated, health-promoting care that
addresses employees’ bodies, minds, emotions, spirits, communities, and
work through promoting healthful lifestyle choices and providing programs,
initiatives, and incentives that encourage employees to keep well in all these
areas. Effective workplace wellness programs also take into account the wellness of employee’s families and dependents.
Further, remember that if wellness is intentional—a choice that people make
when they decide to be well—workplace wellness programs exist to encourage
and assist employees to make those decisions and to stick with them.
This Special Report gives you real world advice, tips, and case studies from
employers across the nation who are making wellness work for their employees,
their families, and their businesses.
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30613000
7
Making the Business Case: Worker
Wellness Makes for Healthy Businesses
Every weekday at noon, an employee with a stressful office job, an aging mother,
two kids, and not enough time laces up her sneakers, meets a friend from another
department, and together they walk for 45 minutes in a nearby park. Rain or shine,
the walks go on. So do the laughs, the conversation, and the respite from a busy life.
But that’s not all that’s going on.The employee is getting valuable cardiovascular
exercise, keeping her heart healthy, reducing stress, and possibly averting diseases
like cancer and diabetes. She returns to her desk feeling cheerful and more productive. She’s less tired at the end of the workday and better able to face the family
demands that greet her when she walks in the door. And guess what? She’s also
saving her employer in lower healthcare-related costs.
This simple scenario illustrates what worksite health promotion is all about.
Employees take responsibility for improving their own health with the support of
their employers. Lives are improved and money is saved.
Making the Business Case
According to WELCOA, more than 81 percent of American businesses with 50 or
more employees have some sort of health promotion program. The most popular
are exercise, smoking cessation classes, back care programs, and stress management. In a document titled “Six Reasons Why Health Promotion Makes Good Business Sense,” WELCOA notes that for many companies, medical costs can consume
half of corporate profits, sometimes even more.“Some employers look to costsharing, cost-shifting, managed care plans, risk-taking, and cash-based incentives.
But these methods merely shift costs. Only worksite health promotion stands out as
the long-term answer for keeping employees well in the first place.”
Here are the six reasons offered:
1. Although we spend more dollars on health care than any other industrialized
nation, our citizens are not the world’s healthiest. To support that point,WELCOA
notes that we are too sedentary, obesity is reaching “monumental proportions,”
tobacco use remains popular, stress is rampant, many Americans drink
excessively, and chronic health conditions continue to plague the population.
2. Much of the illness in the United States is directly preventable. More than
95 percent of our nation’s healthcare expenditures, including most of the
billions employers spend on health coverage, goes toward diagnosing and
treating existing disease.
3. Healthcare costs are an issue of significant concern. The U.S. spends more on
health care than any other country, in excess of $1 trillion. Also significant is
that the number of people without health insurance continues to rise.
4. The worksite is an ideal setting for addressing health and well-being. Reasons
include: The majority of adult Americans work, and people spend most of their
waking hours on the job. Poor health habits take a toll on American business—
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
the cost of work injuries is $121 billion each year. At least 100 million workdays
are lost annually to lower back pain at a cost to employers of about $20 billion.
5. Recent research validates the idea that health promotion programs can
improve health, save money, and even produce a return-on-investment. One
researcher reviewed 30 articles regarding comprehensive health promotion
programs, representing the experiences of 293,000 people. All but 2 of the 30
studies provided evidence of positive cost savings.
6. More and more companies are building world-class wellness programs. Among
them is Lincoln Plating Company, an electro-finishing plant in Nebraska
that employs only 210 people. The company estimates a return of $800,000 on
its $85,000 investment in just over 5 years. Most of the savings come from lower
health insurance premiums.
Mark Your Calendar
One of the most widely recognized workplace wellness initiatives is National
Employee Health and Fitness Day, which is held the third Wednesday in May.
Philip Haberstro, president of the National Association for Health and Fitness,
explains that the Association is made up of state-based wellness councils. This
observance has been held annually for over a decade and was “created to promote the benefits of physical activity for individuals through their work sites.”
According to Haberstro, the “official day” is important, but businesses are encouraged
to schedule a celebration on any convenient day, week, or month.The Association
offers its own materials and recommendations, but employers and employees have
come up with diverse and creative ways to mark the event.“Here in western New
York [Haberstro is executive director of a nonprofit wellness organization in Buffalo], we celebrate with a downtown employee walk that attracts CEOs, mayors, and
journalists.” One year, the head of the local public broadcasting station led the walk.
Other employers treat workers to a catered, healthy lunch to promote the benefits
of proper nutrition. Some use the occasion to bring in ergonomics specialists to
conduct workstation assessments. Haberstro says he’s even seen businesses decorate the stairwells, encouraging workers to get into the habit of walking, rather than
taking the elevator.
To learn more about National Employee Health and Fitness, visit
http://www.physicalfitness.org/nehf.html.
Everybody in the Pool!
Haberstro explains that jobsite health promotion evolved from the executive fitness movement of the 1970s. Today, the emphasis is not just on “the suits,” but is
aimed at employees at all levels. He agrees with the Wellness Councils of America
that the body of evidence linking fitness and profitability is impressive. In fact,
Haberstro believes that employers that wish to remain competitive simply cannot
afford not to promote employee health. He says that’s especially true for the growing number of self-insured businesses.
A frequent question he hears is how to make these initiatives work for smaller businesses. Haberstro says one of the best tools available is the Internet. No matter how
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small a company might be, a worker with Web access can customize and download a walking-based fitness program. Small businesses that do not have their own
gyms can subsidize an employee’s membership at the local ‘Y’ or other affordable
facility. Another strategy is to leverage community expertise by inviting representatives from the local hospital, heart, lung, or other association to deliver brown bag
talks on health-related topics. And don’t forget the resources available within your
organization. It’s likely that one or more of your own employees could lead a class
in healthy cooking, yoga, or task-related stretching.
If You Build It
The experts explain that the ideal way to get your company into shape is to
develop a wellness program, like those you have for safety protection, for example.
Not surprisingly, the components are not very different from those recommended
for other programs.
◆
Win management support: Once you’ve won over the big guns, selling a wellness program to middle managers should be easier. Make sure top support is
visible. Examples are a letter or e-mail to all employees to kick things off, and
personal participation.
◆
Involve employees: A diverse group of employees and labor representatives
should be involved in planning and launching your program. One strategy is to
create a subcommittee of your safety and health committee.
◆
Assess needs, then determine goals and objectives. Review data, including
health claims, OSHA logs, absenteeism figures, and disability data. Conduct a
health risk appraisal, even a simple one, to learn about your employees’ current
health status.Your health plan or workers’ compensation carrier should be able
to assist. And an employee interest survey can help establish workers’ preferences for programs, times, etc.
◆
Respect confidentiality. Employees will want to know that personal information gathered will be kept private. Ideally, employee participation should be
voluntary.
A Good ‘Fit’
There’s no government mandate, but there is compelling evidence that helping
your employees become healthier will positively affect your business. In a tough
economy, many companies have found that the initial expense of developing a
program is worth its weight in morale, to say nothing for increased productivity,
reduced absenteeism, and lower health costs.
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
Making the Case that Now Is the Time:
Consumer-Driven Health Plans
Karen Roberts, senior vice president at Aon Consulting, is always amazed when
employers tell her that they can’t afford to invest in employee wellness, at least not
“this year.”What such employers aren’t acknowledging, she contends, is that the
costs of health care are only going to increase.
“If you can’t afford to invest in wellness this year, you’re never going to afford it,”
Roberts asserts. She says employers need to invest in programs that can help
reduce future costs today. What they really can’t afford to do is wait.
Roberts points to some statistics that underscore where the opportunities for
reducing healthcare costs are available. First, she explains, half of all disease is
preventable. That is, an individual’s lifestyle plays a huge role in disease prevention. Unhealthy lifestyles are responsible for billions of dollars in healthcare costs
every year. For example, smoking alone costs $157 billion annually and obesity
costs $117 billion. And continuing to shift costs and cut benefits isn’t going to fix
the real problem—that 27 percent of the population accounts for 85 percent of all healthcare costs in the United States. Instead, she encourages
employers to implement some type of program—or programs—designed to educate consumers and influence the choices they make.
“We have their attention more hours a week than any other segment of their lives,”
Roberts says, stressing to her audience that employers have the opportunity to
drive change. To that end, she identifies several ideas for cutting healthcare costs, a
number of which are tied to making employees aware of the “true” costs of health
care and more than one involved doing away with co-pays. Roberts says that by
having employees use co-pays, we have shielded them from the actual money
being spent. One idea is to go from co-pays to co-insurance and reintroduce
deductibles just for pharmacy costs; another is to take this approach toward the
entire plan. In general, Roberts is in favor of ideas/programs that point out to
employees that the money being spent isn’t just the insurer’s money, but their own.
Consumer-Driven Health Plans—A Win-Win
Roberts provides powerful statistics regarding consumer-driven health (CDH)
plans, where employees take more responsibility for their medical treatment decisions and costs. According to a recent study, which analyzed “early evidence”
regarding CDH participants, such individuals are:
◆
50 percent more likely to ask medical providers about cost
◆
300 percent more likely to choose less extensive and expensive
medical treatment
◆
25 percent more likely to engage in healthy behaviors, including exercise
◆
20 percent more likely to participate in wellness initiatives
◆
30 percent more likely to get an annual checkup
◆
200 percent more likely to shop for a lower prescription cost
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Simply put, a CDH is a “win-win for everybody,” Roberts says.
Roberts also strongly backs the idea of encouraging employees to take health risk
appraisals:“No amount of claim data can tell you who is pre-diabetic, a smoker, or
sedentary. Only self-reporting can do that.” Health risk appraisals identify prechronic cases for cost avoidance. Remember, Roberts notes, that the best time to
intervene is before a person’s health condition is a problem. It’s this large
group of “pre-chronic” employees that, if they’re willing and ready for change, you
can focus on to significantly reduce future costs. Health risk appraisals “tell you
who’s ready for change,” Roberts says. This could include those with high-risk family histories, those who are borderline diabetics or who have borderline high blood
pressure, and those with a high body mass index (BMI).
Whatever your program, Roberts says that consumer education “must be part of
your strategy.” And she offers a few other important considerations for wellness
programs:
◆
People often revert to old behaviors when programs are withdrawn—short
term interventions don’t work.
◆
Intensive programs reverse heart disease and hypertension, prevent diabetes,
and delay prostrate cancer.
◆
Well-designed programs save more money than they cost through medical cost
containment and increased productivity.
Not every cost-cutting idea Roberts posits focuses on the employee-consumer. For
example, she advocates the advantages of coalition purchasing whenever possible.
If there are other employers you know who have used the same insurance company, see if you can use that leverage when you deal with your insurer.
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
Operating Plan:
Get Your Wellness Programs in Shape
Life/work balance firm LifeCare, which offers a wide variety of employee assistance services, urges organizations to establish well-crafted wellness initiatives.
Research has shown that only 32 percent of employers have formal wellness programs (which are different from informal, scattered wellness initiatives that don’t
have an overall wellness goal for the workplace). Given the hefty payoffs of such
efforts—according to one source,“Healthcare costs are reduced by an average of
$3.48 for every $1 spent on health promotion in the office”—every organization
should create at least a basic array of offerings.
Suggestions from LifeCare (www.lifecare.com) and other sources include:
◆
Offer employees a range of services gauged for varying levels of readiness
to change. Resource and referral programs, for example, are good for addressing a problem on a one-time basis and quickly. In-depth health coaching (often
called disease management), by contrast, works well for older employees and
those with chronic conditions.
◆
Increase participation by targeting specific goals, such as weight loss,
stress reduction, diabetes, cancer, and heart risk. Help employees connect each
offering for example, an on-site dietitian’s advice, a blood pressure and/or cholesterol screening, or reimbursement for costs of fitness programs, with its
health benefits or the conditions it will help to prevent.
◆
If you provide a health risk assessment, build in action steps to address
whatever risks an employee identifies. In other words, offer immediate follow-up
advice as part of the tool.
◆
Use wellness-oriented incentives to encourage participation. For example, consider discounting employee healthcare coverage premiums for those
who achieve certain goals, such as weight loss or smoking cessation. Or, in
addition to fitness reimbursement for such activities as gym membership, promote discounts or special offers on fitness equipment, weight-loss meals, or
other products that fit in with your programs.
◆
Tailor your programs to your workforce demographics, especially average age. Contrary to a common misperception, older employees are more,
rather than less, likely to be interested in wellness activities. Why? The older we
get, the more concerned we are about our health.
◆
Target obesity for the best payoff. According to a Rand Corporation study,
healthcare costs associated with obesity are 36 percent greater than
for normal weight, and greater than those associated with smoking or
heavy drinking.
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30613000
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Financial Incentives:
Show Everyone the Money
One major obstacle HR professionals have had when it comes to implementing a
wellness program with financial incentives for employees has been selling the
program to top management. Michael F. Carter, vice president of Hay Group, a
global consulting firm, says he’s got the evidence about the financial return for
wellness incentives needed when a CFO, CEO, or other top executive says “Show
me the money!”—that is, the savings that will result from the implementation of
such a program.
The Win-Win of Financial Incentives
Carter begins with some basics about the concept of financial incentives for
wellness programs, and some facts about the current state of medical cost containment in the United States. Wellness financial incentives provide a “win-win” for
employees and employers. Obviously, employees can benefit from improved
health. Employers can lower their plan utilization, thus lowering health benefits
costs, and in turn, increasing profits.
Employers have seen 6 straight years of double-digit rate increase for medical
insurance. Two of the main reasons for this are the aging population and the continuing declining health of the nation’s population as a whole. America, Carter
explains, is in the process of a “Metabolic Meltdown”—a combination of worsening hypertension, cholesterol, and being overweight. Some of the statistics are
staggering: For example, a full two-thirds of American adults are overweight. Meanwhile, 25 percent are totally sedentary while 40 percent rarely exercise.
Carter strongly believes that while we have no control over our aging population,
the declining health of the American population can be improved. He proposes
that employers implement a pay-for-performance incentive for wellness plans
much like employers do for compensation plans. In a compensation plan pay-forperformance improves employee performance, and in turn, company profitability.
In a wellness plan, Carter explains, pay-for-performance improves employees’
health, which lowers medical insurance costs, and in turn, likewise increases
company profits.
What kind of incentives can you give? Cash is always popular, and the most prevalent form of incentive, Carter says. The appropriate monetary incentive amount
in the average workplace falls somewhere in the $500 (per year) range, he says.
Other options are gift certificates and days off from work. However, he is a proponent of offering lower medical premiums to those who participate instead. What
better way to show the correlation between a healthier lifestyle and more money
in someone’s pocket than by reducing how much they pay for their healthcare
premium?
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
Combating ‘It won’t work because ...’
Carter outlines the standard hesitations or concerns employers have when such a
program is proposed, and more important, the information HR professionals can
provide in response to these concerns. Here are a few of them.
Are they legal? Employers may be concerned with whether providing incentives
for wellness may be a violation of employee privacy. Carter explains that there are
two federal laws that apply—the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Both laws permit
premium differentials for bona fide wellness programs, he says. In order to comply
with both laws, however, you should adopt incentives for behavior, not health status. (An employee can take steps to eat healthier, eat smaller portions, exercise
more, or quit smoking—this is behavior-based criteria on which they can be
rewarded. But they can’t necessarily control their blood pressure or cholesterol
levels, for example, which can be genetic/hereditary.) Also, such programs should
not be mandatory, but strictly voluntary.
You should also be aware, however, that several states have “Smokers’ Rights” laws.
In these states, employers are prohibited from discriminating against smokers in
compensation and benefits or the terms and conditions of employment. However,
Carter is quick to point out that these laws fall under Labor—not Insurance—law.
And since wellness financial incentives are part of an employee benefits program,
“most attorneys interpret these laws to be preempted by ERISA, and not applicable.” Carter advises that you “get a legal opinion if your program involves these
states and includes incentives for not smoking or participating in a smoking
cessation program.”
See p. 20 for additional information on legal considerations of wellness programs.
Can people’s behavior really change, with or without incentive? Many employers are critical of the notion that people with unhealthy behaviors are willing or
able to change, regardless of whether a wellness program is available. Carter offers
the simple statistic of the change in behavior among smokers in the past 40 years—
in 1965, almost 42 percent of all adults smoked. By 2004, that percentage was down
to less than 21 percent. Simply put, Carter says, you can rest your case on those
stats that behavior can indeed change.
And, while some employers might argue that some may be resistant to change
even in the face of incentives, Carter says such people are one of the two “fringes”
of the employee population. The other fringe is made up of those who are health
conscious and therefore don’t need incentives. However, the rest of the employee
population, which Carter calls a “very large group,” are the “middle ground” employees who need a little “push”—and these individuals are the ones who will benefit
most from your program.
Will employees tell the truth—or will they lie to reap rewards? Most wellness
programs in which financial incentives are provided will include some degree of
“self-reporting” or a health appraisal. For example, an employee in the program
might self-report as to tobacco use. If they are taking part in a smoking cessation
program in which they receive incentives for quitting, how are you to know if they
are being truthful? Carter says you can have them sign a statement that makes it
clear that they are expected to be accurate and truthful in their reporting. He says
that in general people are less likely to lie not only if you ask them to be truthful,
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30613000
15
but even more so if you have them sign a statement that specifically states they will
be truthful.
Are they cost effective? (Show me the money!) Here’s where the evidence we
promised comes into play. Carter says that significant scientific research has shown
that well-designed wellness plans lower health service utilization, have savings that
outweigh administrative expense, and are cost effective. He cited specific studies,
including two from the American Journal of Health Promotion. One included analyses of plans of over 200 employers that showed an average Medical Cost ROI of
3.48. The other was a major study of 20 Health Promotion programs by Kenneth R.
Pelletier, Ph. D., M.D., which showed that such programs are cost effective.
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
Employee Engagement: Happy,
Healthy Employees Get More Done
Is it fashionable in your workplace for employees to work through lunch? Consider
this advice from a nutritionist: Eating three small meals a day, with low-sugar
snacks in between, is the way to sustain energy and avoid gaining weight. And this
from a well-known industrial psychologist: Employees who are challenged by their
jobs, fit, rested, and well nourished are not only more satisfied with their work but
also more productive. In the popular HR jargon, they’re “fully engaged.”
It makes sense when you think about it. Remember how refreshed you feel
after taking some time off? How much more energy you have if you take a brief
snack break rather than suffering through the midafternoon slump? Research conducted by psychologist Dr. Jim Loehr, CEO of the Human Performance Institute in
Orlando, Florida, and his associates, shows that the employees most highly
engaged in their jobs, even passionate about their work, are happier than their lessengaged colleagues. More significant, says Loehr, they are far more likely to be “taking care of themselves in the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical realms.”
According to Loehr, every worker needs some stress, like that brought about by
meeting tight deadlines or resolving office conflicts. But after pushing hard to
accomplish something, employees also need to use what he refers to as “rituals of
recovery.” As an example, he cites the habit of tennis players to focus on their
racket strings between volleys. There’s similar advice about exercise: For peak fitness, alternate between working out to the point of discomfort and dropping back
to an easier pace. The emotional side (such as relationships with friends and family) and the spiritual side (such as seeing oneself and one’s work as meaningful)
of each employee’s life are important in and of themselves. But they are also valuable in offering periods of recovery from demanding work, so they contribute to
on-the-job energy.
What can HR do to foster engagement? One key, of course, is savvy recruitment—hiring the right people. Loehr has found job satisfaction and engagement
to correlate very highly with self-confidence. Confidence can be bolstered by welltailored recognition programs. Much of the key to helping employees maintain the
optimum mental state lies in providing training, career paths, and other development opportunities. Their emotional health can be supported by ensuring that
they have enough time to balance work with other pursuits.
According to Wall Street Journal columnist Sue Shellenbarger, some companies
invest a lot to avoid worker burnout. First, they monitor work hours.When an
employee is putting in too much time, employers help the person analyze and
redesign responsibilities, with an eye toward automating or offloading those that
make the job unmanageable. Shellenbarger advises firms to shorten or eliminate
meetings, urge employees to speak up about scut work, and reduce internal reports.
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30613000
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Tips for Supporting Employee Engagement
Loehr stresses that employers should help employees manage their energy, not
their time. Here are some additional ways to increase job satisfaction, which will,
in turn, lead to better performance.
18
◆
Build employees’ competence and self-confidence through training, feedback,
coaching, and plenty of recognition. (One source suggests that a handwritten
thank you note for a worker’s accomplishment can be very effective.) According
to a recent annual survey by staffing firm Randstad, Generation Y employees are
especially interested in learning new skills on the job. Recognition and appreciation, by contrast, matter more to older employees than to younger ones.
◆
Communicate, often and in detail, about the organization’s mission and competitive edge: Why are its products or services valuable to its customers? How
are employees’ jobs valuable in meeting customers’ needs? Employees who
feel their jobs are consistent with their personal values are more likely to be
fully engaged.
◆
Encourage and reward what Loehr calls “thoughtful risk-taking.” Engaged workers want to solve problems, try new approaches, and meet challenges.
◆
Foster a respectful and pleasant workplace, where relationships between
bosses and subordinates and among peers are positive. Strive to avoid workplace hassles for employees.
◆
Sponsor restorative rest breaks and light diversions. Hourly workers must be
given breaks, but managers can be inclined to forget that exempt employees
need refreshment just as much as their nonexempt colleagues.
Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
Wellness Culture:
How to Create One on a Small Budget
Employers big and small are coming up with creative ideas for encouraging
employees to live a healthy lifestyle, says Tom Weede, author of The Entrepreneur
Diet: The On-the-Go Plan for Fitness,Weight Loss, and Healthy Living.
“In talking to small-business owners for The Entrepreneur Diet, I found that many
were really creative in how they brought a healthy culture to their company,”
Weede says.“They’re proof that you don’t necessarily need a lot of extra capital
lying around for a lavish workout facility to help employees stay fit.”
Weede’s book focuses on a program of weight training, cardiovascular fitness,
healthy food choices, and stress-reduction techniques for busy entrepreneurs.
Weede offers the following tips and examples from his book for starting a workplace wellness program:
◆
Make exercise a work goal. Weede says entrepreneur Gini Dietrich, who
owns a growing public relations firm with more than 20 clients, gives her staff
an incentive to exercise by adding a billable job code for their workouts.
◆
Serve up the right snacks. Weede says Dan Santy, founder of Santy Advertising, keeps healthy snacks in the office lunchroom for both himself and his
staff.
◆
Give a health-related benefit. Weede says that at Stacy’s Pita Chip Company,
business owners Stacy Madison and Mark Andrus give a $500 annual benefit to
be applied toward anything that is health and fitness related.
◆
Communicate. Newsletters and paycheck inserts can keep the idea of health
and fitness regularly in the minds of employees, says the American Institute for
Preventive Medicine, which works with healthcare organizations and corporations to help implement health promotion strategies.
◆
Map it out. Other ideas from the Institute include posting a map in the office
that measures out a short walking route around the neighborhood, placing
some comfortable chairs in a quiet area so employees can take stress breaks,
and having a local massage therapist come into the office once a week for
inexpensive 15-minute massages employees pay for out of pocket.
“Creating a healthy work environment can be done with a minimal budget,”Weede
says.“And it not only makes for fitter, more productive employees, it also encourages wonderful workplace camaraderie.”
Weede is a former senior editor with Men’s Fitness magazine. He is a Certified
Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the National Strength and Conditioning
Association and a Certified Health/Fitness Instructor with the American College of
Sports Medicine.
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30613000
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Legal Considerations:
Beware Legal Landmines
As you create your wellness program, you need to make sure your plans don’t run
afoul of federal and state laws in terms of reasonable accommodation, privacy,
confidentiality of personal health information, and protection of off-duty conduct.
For example, if your wellness program offers financial incentives to employees
who walk a certain number of miles per week, it may discriminate against employees whose disabilities preclude them from reaching the target number. When you
develop your program, therefore, be aware of the legal requirements that may
impact your decisions. Offering a reasonable alternative that allows a disabled
worker to earn the financial incentive may satisfy certain legal requirements—but
crafting such alternatives may be challenging.You should consider having your
legal counsel review your wellness program before you unveil it to employees.
The federal and state laws that should be considered as you design your wellness
program include:
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
This Act requires employers to offer a reasonable accommodation to an employee
with a known disability, and it prohibits employers from making medical inquiries
or requiring medical examinations (unless job-related and consistent with business necessity). It’s also unlawful under the ADA to take any adverse employment
action based on an individual’s actual or perceived disability.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has offered employers
some guidance with regard to the ADA’s restrictions on medical inquiries and
examinations. Under the guidelines, an employer may conduct medical examinations and activities that are part of a voluntary wellness and health screening program. Therefore, offering employees the opportunity to voluntarily participate in
health screening programs for high blood pressure and cholesterol monitoring are
not likely to violate the ADA, as long as there is no penalty (economic or otherwise) for not participating. Employers must treat any information acquired as a
confidential medical record.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act (HIPAA)
In late 2006, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration
(EBSA), the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Health and Human Services published final rules that provide guidance in complying with the nondiscrimination provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).The
rules also provide guidance on the implementation of wellness programs.
The HIPAA nondiscrimination provisions generally prohibit group health plans
from charging similarly situated individuals different premiums or contributions or
imposing different deductible, copayment, or other cost sharing requirements
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
based on a health factor. However, there is an exception that allows plans to offer
wellness programs.
The regulations specify that wellness programs that condition a reward on an individual satisfying a standard related to a health factor must meet five requirements
to comply with HIPAA’s nondiscrimination rules.
Health factors include health status, medical condition (including both physical
and mental illnesses), claims experience, receipt of health care, medical history,
genetic information, evidence of insurability (including conditions arising out of
acts of domestic violence), and disability.
Under the regulations, examples of wellness programs that comply with HIPAA’s
nondiscrimination requirements without having to satisfy the additional standards
(assuming participation in the program is made available to all similarly situated
individuals) include:
◆
A program that reimburses all or part of the cost for memberships in a fitness
center
◆
A diagnostic testing program that provides a reward for participation and does
not base any part of the reward on outcomes
◆
A program that encourages preventive care through the waiver of the copayment or deductible requirement under a group health plan for the costs of, for
example, prenatal care or well-baby visits
◆
A program that reimburses employees for the costs of smoking cessation programs without regard to whether the employee quits smoking
◆
A program that provides a reward to employees for attending a monthly health
education seminar
A wellness program that conditions a reward on an individual satisfying a standard
related to a health factor must meet these five requirements:
1. The total reward must be limited—generally, it must not exceed 20 percent of
the cost of employee-only coverage under the plan.
2. The program must be reasonably designed to promote health and prevent
disease.
3. The program must give individuals eligible to participate the opportunity to
qualify for the reward at least once per year.
4. The reward must be available to all similarly situated individuals. The program
must allow a reasonable alternative standard (or waiver of initial standard) for
obtaining the reward to any individual for whom it is unreasonably difficult due
to a medical condition, or medically inadvisable, to satisfy the initial standard.
5. The plan must disclose in all materials describing the terms of the program the
availability of a reasonable alternative standard (or the possibility of a waiver
of the initial standard).
EBSA has issued updated frequently asked questions
(http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq_hipaa_ND.html) on HIPAA’s nondiscrimination
requirements to assist the employee benefit community in complying with the
new rules.
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30613000
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The rules are effective on the first day of the plan year beginning on or after
July 1, 2007. For calendar year plans, the new rules generally apply beginning
January 1, 2008.
National Labor Relations Act
Employers that have negotiated a collective bargaining agreement with a union
are required by the National Labor Relations Act to bargain over “wages, hours, and
other terms and conditions of employment.”Therefore, a union may claim that a
wellness program is a term or condition of employment that mandates bargaining.
Employers should also check the governing collective bargaining agreement to
see if a wellness program falls under a subject they have agreed to negotiate. For
example, a bargaining agreement may mandate negotiation over the amount of
employee-paid insurance premiums, but not health insurance or other employee
insurance benefits.
State Laws that Protect Off-Duty Conduct
Several states have laws protecting the off-duty conduct of employees. Some
states—at least a dozen at press time for this special report, including CA, CT, IN, KY,
LA, ME, NM, NV, NY, ND, OK, RI—and Washington, D.C.—have “Smokers’ Rights” laws.
Some laws are limited to smoking, the use of tobacco products, or the use of “lawful products,” but others, such as California’s law, have broader coverage that
includes any lawful activity occurring away from the employer’s premises during
nonworking hours.
When designing your wellness program, you should review state laws prohibiting
employment discrimination to be sure the program complies with state requirements. Once a program is in place, you should take steps to ensure that employment decisions are not based on conduct that’s protected by law.You’ll want to
keep in mind that ERISA may preempt state law when a wellness program is part
of an employee benefit plan. However, ERISA will not preempt state laws that have
only a “tenuous, remote or peripheral connection” to employee benefit plans, nor
will it preempt state insurance laws. If your wellness program is challenged based
on a state law that protects off-duty conduct, ERISA’s preemption clause may come
into play—but it would depend on whether the program is part of an employee
benefit plan within the meaning of ERISA’s preemption clause.
You have a great deal of flexibility in designing wellness programs and should
work with insurance providers when developing programs that provide financial
incentives or benefits through group plans. Obtaining a legal review of the programs before implementation will help ensure compliance with applicable laws.
Although implementing a wellness program can require careful planning, you can
reap the benefits: having healthier employees can reduce absenteeism, increase
productivity, boost morale, and reduce healthcare costs—all of which contribute to
keeping a business fit and healthy.
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
Case Study:
Easy, Affordable Wellness Program
Creating a corporate wellness program can be an easy and affordable way to
lower healthcare and workers’ compensation costs, lower employee absenteeism,
and increase employee morale at your company.
Mendi McDowell, eastern region wellness manager, and Susan Seighman-Gross,
eastern region risk control/security manager, at Supervalu, Inc., promote the benefits of a corporate wellness program. Supervalu is a leading grocery distributor
with 35 distribution centers that deliver goods to more than 5,000 retail locations.
Supervalu has an established corporate wellness program that includes on-site
smoking cessation programs and flextime rewards for individuals who receive
improved blood pressure screenings from their doctor. They suggest some easy
and affordable suggestions for implementing a wellness program, such as creating
a wellness newsletter, stretching programs, offering health foods in the cafeteria
and vending machines, and providing an on-site locker room.
Health Fairs
Don’t think your company can afford to hold a health fair at your facility? Supervalu hosted a health fair for only $300. To keep the costs down, they invited local
doctors’ offices, community outreach centers, and nutrition and fitness experts to
take part in the event. They accepted at no charge because of the opportunity for
exposure to so many potential customers. Supervalu provided catering and was
able to put on a well-attended, successful health fair for their employees at a very
low cost.
Fitness Centers
Supervalu has on-site fitness centers at all of their locations. Although this service
is one of the more costly aspects of their wellness program, they thought it was
important to provide a way to increase the physical fitness of their employees.
Supervalu found that their initial cost of investment was $100 to $150 per square
foot of existing space. Equipment costs vary, so in the beginning, Supervalu opened
their fitness centers with just one treadmill and one stationary bike. Every year they
added more equipment, and soon they had a large gym.
To maintain costs and to show value to employees, Supervalu charges participating employees a “membership” fee. They believe that if it is free for everyone, it
won’t be something people would value and use. They charge $3 per person, per
week, and the fee is automatically deducted from employees’ paychecks.
If your workplace cannot provide an on-site fitness center, McDowell and SeighmanGross suggest offering a partial membership reimbursement to off-site fitness centers.
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30613000
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ROI
McDowell and Seighman-Gross state that the major components of programs that
demonstrate the greatest return on investment (ROI) are:
24
◆
Health screenings
◆
Self-help materials
◆
Incentive programs to reward people for healthy behavior
◆
Identification of hazardous working conditions
◆
Employee family involvement
Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
Case Study:
Wellness in the Lunchroom
There’s been a lot of news lately about school boards’ efforts to reduce the fat and
sugar in school lunches as one way to wage war on childhood obesity. Whether
such programs are effective is debatable. But they may work better with adults.
In a new twist on wellness programs, reports Maya Rao in a recent Hartford Courant
article, several Connecticut corporations are revamping their food offerings. They
have added a variety of healthy alternatives to cafeteria menus and vending
machine choices.
Here’s one novel approach: Mortgage Lenders Network USA is relocating its
headquarters to a new location on a former farm—Mortgage Lenders plans to
farm a portion of the land, planting it with apples, pears, herbs, and vegetables.
Through contracts with local vendors, the company will attempt to build its lunchroom offerings around this fresh produce. It will be farewell to fried food and soda,
and, in break rooms, hello to apples, oranges, and snack bars.
Pitney Bowes is pioneering a unique technique to guide employees to choose
wisely—fixing the prices. A veggie wrap containing mushrooms, carrots, and lettuce costs $2.49, chicken fingers go for $3.77, and pizza is priced at a whopping
$4.48. That approach is similar to charging higher health insurance premiums to
employees with unhealthy lifestyles. Raising premiums is a tactic that 53 percent of
surveyed Americans now support, up from 37 percent in 2003 (based on
WSJ.com/Harris polls). Pitney Bowes uses the opposite approach: Employees who
undergo a health screening at the start of each year and follow a monitored health
program during the year can save $200 on health insurance. The initiatives appear
to be slowing the growth of company healthcare costs.
Aetna, Inc. installed “healthy foods” signs on several of its vending machines,
stocked exclusively with soups and prepackaged salads. The company is now
tracking how many employees choose those options. Other wellness programs
offer incentives: Employees who lose weight, eat healthfully, and exercise weekly
are eligible for gift certificates and reduced-price gym memberships. And at least
two nationwide food vendors, Aramark and Sodexho USA, offer low-calorie, low-fat
alternatives in their clients’ cafeterias.
Tip: Work closely with your food vendor to forge agreements to offer some
healthy options, with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables. But start small and
move slowly; employees are proprietary about food choices and may rebel against
dramatic change.
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30613000
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Case Study:
On-site Wellness Center
When Moen Incorporated opened a fitness center at its headquarters more than a
decade ago “as a feel-good type of service, it was good for employee morale, retention, and recruitment,” says Manager Chad Hanzlicek of L&T Health and Fitness,
Inc., a Falls Church,Virginia-based consulting firm that runs the center for the
plumbing products manufacturer.
Since that time, however, its wellness initiatives have had a significant impact on
the company’s bottom line, says Hanzlicek. A 2005 internal study found that for
every dollar that Moen (www.moen.com) spends on its wellness programs, it saves
$3 to $4. That savings can be attributed to reduced time away from work and
healthcare cost savings, he explains.
Variety of Programs Offered
Moen’s Wellness Center is located at the company’s North Olmsted, Ohio, headquarters. About 280 employees, referred to at Moen as “associates,” are members of the
center or about 56 percent of the workforce in that location, according to Hanzlicek.
The company subsidizes the expense of running the Wellness Center. Membership
costs $15 per month for each associate and includes access to fitness equipment
and related programs. The Center is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through
Friday, and many associates are allowed to work flexible hours and visit the Center
during the workday.
Moen sponsors a variety of programs to help associates lose weight and/or maintain a healthy lifestyle, including massage therapy, personal training, yoga, kickboxing, health screenings, and monthly lunch-and-learn educational sessions. Some
programs are available at no charge to associates, while a subsidized rate applies
to other programs.
One of Moen’s most popular programs is “Maintain, Don’t Gain.” About half of Wellness Center members participated in this yearlong program when it was introduced in 2005, Hanzlicek reports. The program targets associates who are satisfied
with their current weight and want to maintain it.
Maintain, Don’t Gain participants are encouraged to use the Wellness Center at
least three times each week, and they earn points for each visit and again at
monthly weigh-ins if they maintain their weight. Last year, about 20 participants
received fleece jackets with the company’s logo for logging in three weekly visits
every week and for maintaining their weight throughout the year, he says. T-shirts
and other prizes were awarded to participants who reached other milestones.
Those who visit at least three times in any given week are recognized with a “star”
displaying their name.
Another popular initiative is the 9-year-old “Fat Bowl” Incentive Program, modeled
after the television show, “The Biggest Loser,” a team-based approach to losing
weight that kicks off each January—when many people set a New Year’s resolution
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace
to lose weight, he says. Eighty Moen associates took part in this 12-week program in
a recent year.
Teams of four associates earn points for exercising, eating healthy foods, and drinking water. Each team is weighed weekly, and the two teams with the most points
and the most weight lost move on to the Moen “Fat Bowl.”The top team is crowned
“The Biggest Loser” and awarded prizes.
This year, Moen plans to launch a new program,“Exercise at Your Desk.”“Not everyone can make it to the Wellness Center for 30 to 60 minutes” during the workday,
Hanzlicek says.
For example, the customer service team can’t take a long break from answering
phones to work out, so Moen will bring 10-minute strength training programs to
them.“We’re going to target those types of departments first” and then reach out to
all employees.
Tips for Success
Hanzlicek attributes the success of Moen’s Wellness Center to the variety of programs offered and to its ability to staff the center with professionals in the field. But
he says you don’t have to invest in a wellness center to promote wellness among
your employees.“Anything is a step in the right direction.You don’t need a fitness
center to have a wellness program.”
He offers the following tips to consider:
◆
Gauge interest. Use employee surveys and focus groups to determine what
types of wellness programs employees are interested in.
◆
Keep it simple. “People don’t want real time-consuming types of programs,”
Hanzlicek says. Make it convenient for employees to participate.
◆
Get buy-in from top management. “If that support isn’t there, it’s going to be
difficult to get anything accomplished,” he says.
For more information on Moen’s program or on starting a wellness program, visit
the L&T Health and Fitness Inc. website at www.ltwell.com.
©Business & Legal Reports, Inc. 30613000
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Case Study:
HMO Incentive Program
An HMO in Michigan has launched a product that rewards people with lower copayments and deductibles if they adopt a healthy lifestyle.
Blue Care Network of Michigan, the HMO affiliate of Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Michigan, says its Healthy Blue Living program encourages employees and their
spouses to live healthful lifestyles with incentives like lower co-payments and
deductibles. The HMO says employers who enroll in the plan can save an average
of 10 percent in premiums.
The program has two benefit levels: standard and enhanced. All employees initially
receive the enhanced benefit package. To qualify to stay in the enhanced package,
which offers lower co-payments and deductibles, the employee and his or her
spouse must do the following during the first 90 days of coverage:
◆
Commit to healthy lifestyles.
◆
Complete a health risk appraisal during the first 90 days of coverage. The
appraisal provides a comprehensive picture of a member’s current health and
health risks and gives suggestions for minimizing those risks.
◆
Complete a member qualification form. After completing the health risk
appraisals, the employee and spouse each fill out a member qualification form
with their respective primary care physician. Points are given for favorable
results or behaviors in six categories: alcohol use, blood pressure, blood sugar,
cholesterol, smoking status, and weight. A point total of 80 or more qualifies a
person for the enhanced benefit level.
Employers are required to offer a smoke-free work environment in order to purchase
the product.The program also encourages employers to promote physical activity at
work and to offer healthy food choices in vending machines and cafeterias.
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Beyond the Hype: Make Wellness Work for Your Workplace