Company WellnessCompany wellness programs and company wellness consulting

Quitting use of tobacco at any age can improve a person’s health.  And believe it or not, older workforce often fair better with use of tobacco cessation than younger staff members.  

According to the Journal of American Medicine, Duke University reseearchers tracked 573 older patients over 10 years. They found that just 16 percent of those who joined the use of tobacco cessation program later returned to use of tobacco.  

Previous research has found young smokers who attempt to quit have a 35 percent to 45 percent relapse rate within two years.

Given that employees nationwide are retiring later and the cost of retiree healthcare is sky high, you may want to keep trying with smoking cessation programs, even for the oldest employees on your health plan.

In this recession economy and out-of-control employee debt, many companys who don’t have automatic 401(k) enrollment have seen participation drop.

Here’s how one small corporation in Arizona cleverly tied 401(k) education to employees’ other financial concerns. Rather than simply holding its usual 401(k) open enrollment education meeting, it held a “financial wellness fair.”

Stressed 401(k) importance

How it worked –  on the same day the company’s 401(k) provider sent a plan rep to discuss the retirement plan, the company also arranged for a certified financial planner to speak to staff.

The financial planner went first. She started the session by pointing out that she wasn’t affiliated in any way with the management of the 401(k) plan.

That was crucial both for the company’s legal protection under ERISA and for building trust with staff members. She then discussed why it’s crucial for people  to participate in the 401(k) plan, and offered attendees budgeting tips and basic strategies for cutting their debt.

The financial planner’s talk cut to the heart of several major issues that hurt both employee salary satisfaction and 401(k) participation. Numerous studies show that the No. 1 reason many people  avoid 401(k) participation is that they feel they can’t sacrifice any part of their entire paycheck and still survive financially.

The second part of the session was the standard 401(k) enrollment presentation from the provider. End result – Workers were more attentive and there was a noticeable uptick in both new 401(k) enrollments and salary contributions from already-enrolled employees.

The event was such a smash that the corporation plans to make the Financial Health Fair a regular part of 401(k) enrollment. While the financial planning advice is generic (the corporation may add third-party personal finance planning as a voluntary benefit in the future), it’s also timely.

The 401(k) signup appeal comes while the financial planning tips are still fresh in employees’ minds and they’re motivated to do something to help themselves.

Looking for incentives to get overweight staff to buy into a health promotion program? A recent research study  suggests many staff are even willing to pay much – or all – of the cost themselves.

Roughly 35% of firms with wellness programs focus on providing employees with convenient access to weight loss resources.

A poll of 1,352 staff members by the Strategies to Overcome and Avoid Obesity Alliance found that many individuals  would gladly chip in for the cost of the wellness program if they believed it’d help them lose weight. What staff members want –

• confidential support and counseling

• Access to a professional nutritionist or personal trainer, and

• on-site exercise plans.

Until recently, only big businesses were able offer such wellness programs as part of their wellness benefits.   But the fastest growth of these wellness programs in the last two years has been in smaller firms (sometimes with as few as 50 full-time employees).

The majority of firms split the cost with workers. Ordinarily, workers pay up to about 25 percent of the cost. But some plans are fully staff member paid.

Studies show that roughly five% of workers drive about 80% of your health benefit costs.

No shocker here –  Smokers and obese workers are the highest risk group for developing the sorts of chronic medical problems that send costs through the roof.

A small, but quickly growing number of corporations are taking desperate measures to avoid the costs associated with these staff members.  The step may 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 members and those who commit to maintaining a healthy weight receive financial incentives that lower their share of monthly insurance premiums.

Level two –  the employer disqualifies job candidates who smoke or are significantly overweight from hiring consideration. Alternatively, some firms require new hires to undergo a health risk appraisal as a condition of being hired.

Level three –  the business docks pay or fires workforce who fail to control their lifestyle-related health risks. Example –  A company called Clarian Health has sent notifications to workforce that beginning in 2009, workforce who smoke or chew tobacco are going to be charged $5 per paycheck.

Are these strategies legal? at level one, the answer is a licensed yes. HIPAAs non-discrimination rules permit such incentives under several conditions.

Wellness incentives walk a fine line for health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA)s non-discrimination rules. It is legal to reward staff members for wellness participation but its illegal to punish those who fail to improve their health.

Example – When an worker follows a weight-loss program in good faith but fails to lose weight, you can’t withhold the incentive. Similarly, if an worker fails repeated tries to quit smoking, you’re still legally obligated to give them another shot next year.

Moreover rememberthat, by law, the size of the reward or penalty under your health promotion program cant exceed 20% of the sum cost of coverage.

The other two are still largely uncharted waters in the courts. Businesss considering these policies should proceed with extreme caution. Remember that the question of “can you do it” (i.e., is it legal?) is different from “should you do it?” (i.e., is it good business?)

Health promotion programs come in all shapes and sizes. But regardless of plan design there are five common components that set the successful wellness programs apart from the rest.

At their core, wellness programs require constant monitoring and periodic adjustments.  The wellness programs that get mediocre results are the ones that are left to run on autopilot. That’s why it’s critical to –

1. Know thine enemy You’ve to know what’s driving your biggest claim costs on your health care plan – both among employees and their dependents.

2. Develop realistic expectations. With wellness, what an employer gets will nearly always depend on how much it spends, how well it plans and how well it sustains communications with participants and the vendor.

3. Maintain strong communications.  The wellness programs that achieve the greatest success are those which are communicated aggressively from the get go and are sustained. Repetition is your friend when doing worker education.

4. Integrate wellness with other benefits. Real-life experience has shown that you ought to consider your employee assistance programs (EAPs) an extension of the wellness program. You should also consider issues like absenteeism, disability and worker’s compensation to be pieces of the wellness puzzle.

5. Practice what you preach.  The key to ensuring staff member buy-in is for upper management to lead the health promotion program by setting a positive example. When senior managers are unwilling to participate and address their own health issues, don’t expect many workforce to take the health promotion program seriously.

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 started to stabilize their costs – according to one study.

Among firms noting improvement, nearly two-thirds (64%) feature health promotion programs offering incentives for healthier lifestyles.

Here are three twists on traditional incentives that’re getting good results –

1. Wellness coach outreach

A lot of firms require workers to work with a personal wellness coach for 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 wellness Coach.

But experience has shown there’s often a high dropout rate.

Individuals  get off to a great start – 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 individuals  on the right track. Rather than requiring staff members 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 wellness coach keeps individuals  accountable.

2. Nutritional education/therapy

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

Just 11% of companies – 18%  of big businesss and 7.5% of small to medium ones – have such wellness 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 eating, the faster and more dramatic the reduction in major health claims.

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

3. Assertive use of tobacco cessation

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

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

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

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

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

Example –  Clarian Health made news last fall for sending notice to staff members 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 certified yes. HIPAAs non-discrimination rules permit such incentives within limits.

In a nutshell, it’s legal to reward employees who quit smoking but illegal to punish those who attempt and fail. When an staff member tries but fails to quit smoking, you’re still legally obligated to give them another shot next year.

In addition keep in mindthat, by law, the size of the reward or penalty under your wellness program can’t exceed 20% of the sum cost of coverage.

At levels two and three, it remains to be seen if such policies would hold up in court. Proceed with caution.

Wellness programs are a long-term investment. But how long should you wait for results?

Finance and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) want hard numbers to show ROI.  And wellness ROI is tougher to calculate than, say, a 401(k).

18-month guideline

Current studies have established some benchmark data on wellness Return On Investment you are able to use as a guideline. It’s useful whether you already have a health promotion program or are thinking about beginning one.

It ordinarily takes at least 18 months from the launch of a health promotion program to see any results in your healthcare plan bottom line.

For many firms, 18 months is the point at which workers’ improving health begins to cancel out the cost of sponsoring and administering the wellness program.

By and large, the long-term cost savings from a health promotion program will be driven by how much you’re willing to spend. Ordinarily, businesses get what they pay for – both in time and money invested.

As a rule of thumb, the typical cost to the corporation is about $3 to $5 per participating employee per month. Within three years of launch, you ought to be seeing meaningful savings.

The typical Return On Investment (ROI) tends to be about $4 to $5 saved for every dollar spent. So how can you manage the costs in the short-term to achieve the long-term savings?  and how can you maximize the long-term payoff?

Consider making health promotion programs budget-neutral

For many employers, the most effective way to manage the cost of a health promotion program in the start-up phase is to make it a budget-neutral expense.

In other words, the health promotion program neither adds to your medical costs at the outset, nor lowers them. Example –  You plan to roll out a health promotion program effective Jan. 1.  The health promotion program will cost the business $5 per worker.

You can roll the $5 per month cost directly into the employee’s monthly share of their healthcare premium. In this age of continuous cost-shifting, most workforce are used to seeing small increases in their monthly contributions each plan year.

Just be certain you’re not hitting folks with a big hike on top of that $5. Comparably designed wellness programs pay off about the same – meaning employees purchase in and participate at the same rate – whether they’re budget neutral or the employer absorbs the cost.

But when workforce get clobbered by large-scale contribution hikes at the outset, they often resist the health promotion program.  The long-term Return On Investment (ROI) for these health promotion programs is often disappointing.

When you’re faced with a situation where achieving a budget-neutral wellness program would trigger push-back, your firm is better off absorbing most or all the wellness costs.

The biggest hurdle is to get over the hump for those first 18 months or so.

A few years ago, corporation wellness fairs were all the rage. Now they’re making a comeback, with a slight twist.

In the past, the fairs often better served the vendor(s) who came on-site than the needs of the hosting company or their employees. More recently, organizations have refined the planning of the events to serve in particular to launch or promote a health promotion program.

To be successful, the events need to serve two purposes – increaseing employee education and building their enthusiasm to take part in the wellness program.

To be certain you and your workforce get the most out of a health fair, it assists to be alert to the plusses and minuses – and some little touches that can mean the difference between a so-so event and a hit.

Wellness Fairs –  Double-edged sword

On the plus side, personnel received easy-to-grasp information on key wellness topics like illness detection, symptom control and smarter medication practices. They also receive important services like free blood-pressure screenings.

On the down side, some specialists said the more newfangled events were more like “disease fairs” than “wellness fairs.” In other words, the tone was little too somber and workforce weren’t specifically tuned in because they weren’t enjoying themselves.

Wellness program consultant Dr. Ron Goetzel believes that the savviest firms strike a balance in their health fairs. Stick with the screenings, but also feature exhibitors who offer “lighter,” more enjoyable services. Examples –

• A booth from a local health-food store

• A chair-massage station

• elder-care info from the AARP, or

• A “complimentary medicine” info booth (e.g.,a chiropractor or an acupuncturist).

Offering incentives

In many cases, staff members still need an incentive to attend the fair and get the desired screenings, further to doing the fun stuff. Some real-life health promotion programs that’ve worked –

• A contest offering prizes to workforce who visit every station

• quizzes and prizes based on info from different providers’ literature

• flex-scheduling or time-off incentives for getting screened (e.g., a comp day or an additional afternoon off), and

• cash incentives (as little as $20 and as much as $100) to people  who voluntarily participate in various screenings.

Medical research has long shown quitting tobacco use at any age can improve a person’s health.

But a Duke University shows that the group you may think would be the least likely to quit – individuals  over the age of 50 – may actually have the best odds for quitting through a use of tobacco cessation program.

Researchers tracked 573 older patients over 10 years. They found that just 16% of those who joined the smoking cessation program later returned to smoking.  Meanwhile, previous research has found young smokers who try to quit have a 35% to 45% relapse rate within two years.

Bottom line –   Given the aging staff member population and the cost of retiree health care, you might want to keep attempting with smoking cessation education for your older employees.

The companies with the most cost-efficient healthcare programs are the ones that streamline the services workforce receive for both their physical and psychological health.

As a long-term goal, having your general health plan, employee assistance program (EAP) and health promotion program communicating regularly with one another about employees’ treatments is the single best way to reduce redundant or contradictory treatments, eliminate unnecessary claims and enhance the quality of the plans for which you pay.

Let’s look at the relationship between your health promotion program and your EAP to illustrate the importance of attacking health care costs cross a wide front.

You can start a health promotion program with a health risk assessment and then, when appropriate, roll out a use of tobacco cessation program or a weight loss program.

But ultimately you want to make sure that your wellness vendor works combined with your employee assistance program vendor.

Here’s why –  It’s very common for an staff member to contact the EAP because the individuals feels depressed about his or her weight. What you want is for the EAP provider to treat the employee’s depression and behavioral issues, plus you want the EAP to refer the staff member to the health promotion program to deal with the root cause of the problem – obesity.

The same thing accompanies the relationship your wellness program and your workers’ comp provider, STD and LTD providers, rehab individuals , and/or disease managers. You want all them talking to – and sharing data with – each other. If they’re not, it’s costing you money.

In general, the corporations who achieve the greatest cost savings through their health promotion programs are the ones who overlap wellness with behavioral and occupational health issues.