A free bill of health

The natural foods grocery chain provides all its full-time employees, about 80 percent of its workforce, with a medical plan at no charge - no weekly premiums, no copayments for doctor visits.

Every employee - there are 3,300 in Massachusetts - also has a personal wellness account in the form of a company credit card, loaded with up to $1,800 each year to help pay the $1,300 annual deductible and other out-of-pocket expenses. Whatever isn’t spent in one year rolls over to the next. Once the deductible is met, the company pays 80 percent of prescription costs and other expenses.

The plan, self-insured by Whole Foods and provided through UnitedHealthcare, also covers alternative medicine such as acupuncture and craniosacral therapy. And in case of an emergency - if someone’s house burns down or car gets totaled - employees can apply for money from a fund built from voluntary $1 payroll deductions.