While the two concepts are verydifferent, brokers who are advising their clients about independentwellness programs should know about best practices in wellnessbenefits. (Image: Shutterstock)

Employers continue to promote wellness programs and benefits asan integral part of their overall benefits strategies to encourageemployees to adopt healthy behaviors and to reduce long-term healthcare costs. In addition to employee wellness programs (e.g., weightloss, tobacco-cessation), wellness benefits are commonly offeredwith today's voluntary supplemental health products to encourageemployees to receive preventative health screenings.

Related: 5 ways wellness programs boost recruiting &retention efforts

Bonnie Brazzell and Nick Rockwell,Eastbridge Consulting Group, Inc.

While the two concepts are very different, brokers who areadvising their clients about independent wellness programs shouldknow about best practices in wellness benefits in their clients'voluntary programs and how they support overall health and wellnessinitiatives.

• Wellness "programs": Could be definedas independent initiatives implemented by employers to improve thehealth of all employees.
• Wellness "benefits": Riders and/orother features of voluntary benefits that offer incentives topolicyholders to take healthy measures.

The best wellness benefits in the market seek to make submittinga claim quick and easy for employees who complete an eligiblewellness screening. A recent Eastbridge report on voluntarywellness benefits found that 60 percent of carriers allowed foronline submission, and about half allowed for submission via bothphone and email. Employers value voluntary benefits that are easyto understand and access, so be sure to select carriers that offermultiple claims submission methods for wellness benefits.

Another vital part of evaluating wellness benefits isunderstanding the extent to which the carrier promotes the benefitsto employees. Are wellness benefits only highlighted during openenrollment? Does the carrier have a post-enrollment campaign toreinforce submission of employee wellness claims? Our same studyfound that only about half the carriers in the market currentlypromote wellness benefits to employees once they are enrolled. Lackof visibility likely means that employees often overlook thewellness features of their policy.

Wellness benefits are not something that should make or breakwhich program an employer chooses to install, but it's prudent toensure we understand what's available in the market. Do the plansyou choose to endorse encourage use by making claims easy to submitand increase awareness of the wellness benefit through promotionstrategies? While most brokers focus on benefit amounts and theitems that are covered, even the best wellness benefits won'tmatter much unless employees know they exist and can easily accessthem.

Read more: 

• Employee wellness programs and voluntarybenefits
• Workplace wellness solutions: 8 factors toconsider
• Employers mitigate health care costs withpreventive care, wellness plans