Wellness Plans : Wellness Incentives.

As reported by Gordian Health Solutions, the effectiveness of health promotion programs in bettering health and lowering healthcare costs is directly linked to incentives –  

• The more substantial the incentives,
• The higher the success rate.

Incentives can range from tokens of achievement, like t-shirts, water bottles and sports equipment, to more substantial financial awards, like cash incentives or copay vouchers for the successful completion of a health promotion program.

Nationwide Insurance is seeing results from a small incentive program initiated by one of the corporation’s on-site nurses.  To encourage lunchtime walking, the employee has informally launched a “shoelace program” modeled after the karate-belt color system.

Employees progress through the color scale until they reach “black-lace” status.  The reward system has resulted in more workforce making commitments to walk during their lunch hour.

At the high end of the reward spectrum, some corporations pay cash to staff members who meet wellness objectives. LuK, Inc. offers staff members $250 for kicking the tobacco habit and remaining smoke free for 12 months.

For logging fitness points that add up to 10 miles a month, staff members are eligible for health assessments, which can lead to reward amounts of up to $225.

The most effective motivator, as reported by Gordian research, comes through linking participation in health promotion programs directly to insurance premiums. Doing so clearly demonstrates to personnel the positive effects of wellness on their own health care costs.

Frequently, the first step in linking health promotion programming to insurance coverage is lowering deductibles for wellness care or eliminating deductibles altogether. By adding this benefit, companies can encourage workers to undertake routine screenings and other procedures to respond to health problems before they become chronic.

Early detection benefits both patient health and employer healthcare costs.

Incentivizing wellness program participation with health care credits

More frequently, corporations are going beyond increased wellness care coverage and looking to demonstrate the importance of wellness by linking participation to employees’ bottom lines.

Worthington Industries has lately rolled out a health promotion program that authorizes staff to eliminate their portion of the insurance premium by enrolling in a Healthful Choices health promotion program.

During the first year of the Healthful Choices program, personnel and their spouses complete Personal Health Assessments and biometric screenings to determine their levels of health risks.

Nurses, dietitians and exercise professionals are available to help moderate- and high-risk participants create individual action plans for improved health through the use of educational materials, behavior modification, telephone help from third-party program health coordinators, and formal health management programs.

By completing the assessments, personnel earn their full premium credit. Because some plans at Worthington require no worker contribution, a cash award takes the place of a credit in those cases.  

During year two of the wellness program, the wellness bar is raised slightly.  To continue to receive the wellness credit, participants in the moderate- to high-risk category are going to be required to work at setting goals with third-party health coordinators.

Year three raises the bar again, requiring participants to show progress in meeting goals and to continue to work with health coordinators to reach goals.

After year three, Worthington Industries workers are going to be on the wellness track.  The corporation believes that will mean a healthier workforce and cost savings for workers and the corporation.

The well being of Worthington personnel is the foundation of this wellness program, and both personnel and the company are expected to benefit from the long-term benefits of the Healthy Choices Wellness Program.

While Worthington has taken a wide approach to wellness, other businesses have found success in offering incentives in specific areas. Longaberger, for instance, offers a discount on healthcare policies for staff who do not use tobacco.

A personal employee who doesn’t use tobacco saves $7 per bi-weekly pay. for smoke-free personnel with family coverage whose families are also smoke-free, the savings increases to $14 per pay.

The next step –  Penalizing harmful behaviors

As it stands, healthcare is the only kind of insurance that does not focus on penalizing for behaviors that put the insured party at risk. With healthcare costs rising so dramatically, that could soon change.

Just as an accident likely raises auto insurance premiums, increasing premiums for those who engage in unhealthful behaviors is a possible next step in employers’ attempts to manage healthcare costs.

Reports that staff members would support this kind of action are stacking up. One Ohio business conducted an informal survey that indicated staff members would consider it a morale increase when health-conscious staff members were relieved of some of the burden of subsidizing care for staff members who engage in behaviors that negatively affect their health.

Whether or not or not this type of wellness program gains popularity, one thing is sure –  the need to control the rise in health care costs is becoming ever more pressing.

Take the first step

No matter what the strategy, from offering workers medical resources to providing incentives for healthy behaviors, companys have a real opportunity to improve morale and productivity, lower rates of absenteeism and control healthcare costs through wellness.

The first step is committing to taking one, whatever size effort is appropriate for your organization.  Big strides start with small steps.