Advising employers on wellness programs

Faced with rising employee health care expenses, employers are shifting away from full health plans toward high-deductible, lower-cost coverages. But costs continue to rise, and many need new solutions.

Now, larger employers are making a second shift—toward wellness programs. They’re successfully managing costs by encouraging healthier lifestyles.

By contrast, fewer small and midsize companies are implementing wellness programs. Many simply lack the resources to investigate and apply appropriate options.

As trusted advisers to employer groups, agents are uniquely positioned to help benefit managers explore wellness programs.

Good programs tend to focus on two vital objectives: preventing new problems by promoting healthy habits, and controlling chronic conditions. 

At one large Midwestern company, employees and their families have access to an onsite medical clinic, where care is offered eight hours every work day. Services include free one-on-one health coaching, online nutrition programs and preventive services, such as physical exams, wellness screenings and routine lab work. The clinic also provides primary and urgent care and fills common prescriptions.

Simpler programs provide over-the-phone health coaching, informational newsletters and educational presentations.

Implementing a wellness program is a good investment. Consider:

• Each $1 invested in a comprehensive wellness program saves about $3 in health care costs, according to the Wellness Council of America.
• Medical costs drop by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on corporate wellness programs, and absenteeism costs fall by $2.73 for each dollar invested, according to an analysis of 36 studies by Harvard University researchers.
• Employers who offer wellness programs can slow health care cost increases by 15 percent, according to a Highmark BCBS study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion.

Independent providers can help employers develop a wellness program for their employee population. You can find vendor information in online service directories, including those from the Society for Human Resource Management and the Wellness Council of America.

Many program providers—including Health Advocate, www.healthadvocate.com—seek relationships with agents who offer their services to employers and are compensated for referrals. With its recent acquisition of WellCall, Health Advocate now offers broker-focused wellness solutions for smaller groups.

“Emphasizing wellness offers employers of all sizes the chance to not only improve employee well-being, but also increase on-the-job productivity and reduce costs,” says Abbie Leibowitz, executive vice president, chief medical officer and co-founder of Health Advocate.

Developing a wellness program doesn’t have to include all the bells and whistles. Start simply.

“Even the most basic elements can have a great impact, especially in helping companies begin to create ‘wellness communities’ in their workplace,” says Grace Brothers, vice president of benefits for CNO Financial Group.

Brothers advises all employers to consider:

• Offering onsite health education. Organizations can partner with local resource providers to host lunch-and-learn sessions, offer group weight-management classes onsite, etc.
• Starting a walking program—an easy, affordable way to get employees active during the workday.
• Hosting wellness fairs with biometric health screenings.
• Partnering with fitness centers for discounted memberships.

Also consider offering participation incentives. Wellness programs succeed only when employees take part. To drive participation, companies can offer incentives such as cash and/or gift cards, raffles and prize drawings, reduced health premiums and/or co-pays, and health savings account deposits.

Some companies go a step further, making employee participation a requirement for health plan enrollment.  

Employers of all sizes can benefit from a robust wellness program. Such a program can also boost agents consultative value by adding wellness expertise to your group practice.