Wellness programs getting a boost from employers
SOUTHLAKE, Texas -- Juli Gomez always wanted a healthier lifestyle, but had a hard time getting motivated. Now, working out and eating healthier are putting money in her pocket.
Her employer,
''Initially, it was the incentives that got me into it," said the 39-year-old executive assistant, a one-time college volleyball player who had grown sedentary in the working world.
As part of a strategy to rein in ballooning healthcare expenses, more employers are offering discounts on health insurance to workers who participate in wellness programs.
The tactic comes as corporate America scrambles to find more creative approaches to the burgeoning crisis in healthcare costs.
''If you don't do something about it now, it will potentially sabotage your business for the future," said Todd Whitthorne, the president and chief operating officer of Cooper Concepts Inc., a division of Dallas-based Cooper Aerobics Center, which advises clients on wellness.
At Sabre, the wellness program has helped hold down annual increases in healthcare costs to around 1 percent -- compared with 9 percent nationwide last year.
''The savings we experienced went straight to our bottom line since we are self-insured," said Lynn Swaim, Sabre's vice president of employee benefits. Higher profits mean better employee bonuses, she added.
Free money for strapped employees? Not entirely.
Even as they offer discounts on health insurance plans, many employers are also jacking up overall premiums. That follows a national trend of shifting a greater share of total costs to employees.
At Sabre, even employees who qualify for discounts saw their insurance premiums rise by about 5 percent from last year, although that often amounts to just a few dollars per month more, Swaim said.
Many of the area companies offering wellness discounts work with
''One has to be able to demonstrate how spending money on wellness is an investment that will bring a return, not a sunk cost," said David Michel, the president of MatriaWellCare Dallas, a division of Matria Healthcare.
When Matria works with a company, it first looks at employees' risk factors, including high blood pressure, cholesterol, poor fitness, bad eating habits, and whether people smoke.
Extra attention goes to chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, and cardiovascular problems.
Michel's group has found people who had diabetes and didn't know it. One woman had blood pressure so high that she could have had a stroke just sitting at her desk.
Then come incentives to encourage greater physical activity, healthier diets and preventive medicine, including annual physicals. ''If you can lower the risk factors by even a small percentage, then all of a sudden, that dollar you spent on wellness has turned into three or four dollars," Michel said.
Just a few years ago, health costs were soaring by 20 percent per year at Dallas-based Turner, the holding company of engineering and construction firm Turner Construction Co.
''When you extend that out, your costs are doubling every four years," said Patrick Aulson, Turner's senior vice president of human resources. ''It's not sustainable."
Last year, Turner rolled out a high-deductible insurance plan, which can shift more of the burden to employees. The company raised premiums for the most comprehensive plan by 50 percent.
At the same time, the firm also launched a wellness program for its 5,600 US employees.
Workers can earn wellness credits by getting physicals, improving fitness, attending educational seminars, and eating more fruits and vegetables. Turner is also offering health club subsidies.
Employees with enough wellness credits can get discounts of up to $30 a month on their health insurance, plus another $30 a month if their spouses participate.
Swaim, the Sabre benefits executive, says her company is counting on the wellness program to help keep costs down. Already, research indicates that employees are getting more physical activity, eating more fruits and vegetables, and even coping with stress more effectively.
