In The News
Providing Health Benefits on a Budget - Wall Street Journal
Wellness programs, screenings and other services can help small firms rein in the rising cost of care
Spiraling health-care costs have forced many small employers to reduce the benefits they offer - or, in some cases, eliminate coverage altogether. And there's no end in sight. Health-care costs for U.S. employers are expected to rise almost 10% in 2008, according to a recent survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers of more than 500 employers and health plans. But small companies do have options for keeping costs in check while still providing benefits and services to employees.
Wellness plans are one compelling option. Wellness plans don't have to involve pricey screenings. A growing crop of programs are available online. One comes from My Wellchoice+ of Boise, Idaho. Users log on to a Web site, my.ephit.com/mywellchoice, for customized nutrition advice, meal-planning tools and fitness plans. Small companies can enroll directly through My Wellchoice+ and pay about $3 per employee per month.
DataPath employees participate in the company's wellness program. To get employees to log on, the program provides incentives. Users earn points for completing goals, and one company, DataPath Inc. of Little Rock, Ark., converts the points into cash, which employees can put toward benefits costs or tack onto a paycheck. President and Chief Executive John Robbins Sr. says the tech company periodically checks with participants to go over their conversion from points to dollars. He says a few of the firm's 70 employees have lost as many as 40 pounds using the My Wellchoice+ program. Those results, Mr. Robbins hopes, will lower claims costs down the road.
Keeping Food Diary Doubles Weight Loss - ABC News
A recent research study by the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research shows that keeping a food diary can drastically help you lose weight. Participants in the study who kept food journals lost almost double the weight of their non-journaling counterparts. The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, found those who used a food diary more than five days a week lost almost twice as much weight as those who didn't. And perhaps more impressively, they kept the weight off. The EatFIT section of the My Wellchoice+ online wellness program makes it easy to track your caloric intake and journal your food intake.
How To Choose A Health Care Plan: Three Ways to Save Money - Inc. Magazine
- Many brokers recommend switching to a high-deductible health plan coupled with a "deductible buy-down" that's funded by the savings in premiums. Employees pay the same deductible as under the old plan, and the employer "buys down" the rest. The employer is betting that employees won't spend all their deductible dollars. "They invariably use just 30 to 40 percent of the money budgeted," broker Denny Ebersole says.
- Set up a wellness program that encourages healthful behavior. Scott Leavitt, who runs My Wellchoice+, a national wellness program for small businesses, says claims drop substantially as a result—so rates don't go up as fast. The plans typically cost $3 per employee per month.
- If you can't provide insurance, your employees may be able to buy individual policies through a trade association. This won't be as affordable as group coverage, but both the prices and the service will be better than if employees approach an insurer on their own.
Wellness done right - Benefits Selling Magazine
With many different theories circulating about how to fix our ailing health care financing system, it doesn't matter who is paying the tab until we change our behavior and lifestyle. Consider that Americans spend $1.9 trillion each year on health care and 60 percent of Americans are overweight. Yet we still scratch our heads and wonder why employers receive a 20 percent average annual rate increase on premiums.
I would like to highlight one that has impressed me: My Wellchoice+, co-founded by Scott Leavitt and Nancy Dodder.
"We started My Wellchoice+ to provide a low-cost, high-value wellness program to companies and TPAs of all sizes, as well as to individuals and their families," said Leavitt. "The technology behind our online wellness program helps members develop a fitness, nutrition and life skills plan that is completely customized to their needs. Once the plan is created, they are able to track their progress in all three areas and are rewarded with points they can use to purchase items. The program also comes with online coaching to help them along. Our program also includes children and teens."
Consider also that even the feds are taking notice of the impact of healthy lifestyle choices and wellness programs. The Healthy Workforce Act of 2007, by Dr. Jenelle Krishamoorthy and U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, R-Iowa, provides for a tax credit to businesses that offer comprehensive wellness programs to their employees.