Workplace of Choice

Wellness, Wellness, Wellness - we've been hearing about it for the last several years now. But with the concept of getting and keeping our employees healthier through Wellness, we also hear the accompanying arguments from employers on why a Wellness program isn't feasible:

• We don't have a budget.
• If we do spend money, what's the ROI?
• No one has the time to exercise more.
• Is it really our business what our employees are doing with their lives/bodies?
• We don't have the additional staff needed to communicate and run a Wellness program.

Well, as we turn the corner into 2010 and see that employee benefit increases had another year of double digit increases for many with no end in sight, Wellness is fast becoming the only way to start nipping at the heels of this runaway train.

The medical conditions that end up costing the most to both consumers and in return companies are not surprising.  Even less surprising is that they haven't changed in the last several years. Heart Disease and Cancer are the top cost "drivers" for company-sponsored health insurance.  Although we won't be able to eliminate these diseases, early detection through screening and prevention will go a long way to reducing overall medical spending.

So, what's an employer to do? Listed below are some examples of how to get started and begin impacting your company's bottom line when it comes to employee benefits and Wellness:

• Implementing prevention programs are no longer ‘a nice to have.'  If employers want to start curtailing their medical benefit increases, it is in their best interest to help their smokers to stop smoking, their obese to seek nutritional/emotional/physical support and to help their employees reduce their overall stress level.  All these unhealthy behaviors have a direct impact on health and in turn, your company's bottom line.
• Offering wellness incentives for employees can motivate them to action.  Encourage employees to set goals for their health.  For example, hold a cholesterol screening, which indicates the risk of Heart Disease, and then encourage employees to work toward reducing their numbers.  Reward employees for reaching their health goals.
• Structuring the medical plan to allow for better or total coverage of screening tests is another way to ensure that employees are staying current on recommended testing.
• Don't underestimate the "soft" cost of disease - although Heart Disease and Cancer are the top two costs - Depression can actually cost the company more than any other condition due to these "soft" costs. The costs of fighting depression include not only medical and drug spend, but time off (either in disability, PTO, or Leaves of Absence) and the cost of lack of productivity. Wellness efforts, coupled with an EAP can work wonders in this area!

Although we keep waiting for skyrocketing health costs to - well, stop skyrocketing, it appears that a concentrated Wellness effort which is better looped into overall HR policies and objectives might be more than a just a wise use of time and resources, but a necessary one too.