One of the most pressing challenges employers face today is managing the cost of healthcare for their employees. And with all the talk about the rising health care cost, I thought you might find this article interesting. A small Minnesota organization actually decreased their health insurance claims due to a long-term commitment to a corporate-wide health and wellness program.
The employees of this company can participate in a variety of wellness activities including weight loss, reducing tobacco use, and battling high blood pressure. Each year, the focus changes depending on employee needs. They also have provided a range of presentations regarding health issues; this includes cancer awareness, stress management, etc.
Wellness and prevention are not only important, but may be the method to decreasing health care costs. In 2007, the company had a reduction of 31.5% in health insurance claims. This resulted in a company surplus in expected claims dollars of $160,000!
More and more companies are realizing the importance of health and wellness programs. In fact, within our organization, we currently have a health and wellness program. We track the number of steps and the total minutes of activity daily. Each day, you are also presented with a fun Challenge-of-the-Day. You read a short wellness article, rate the article, add a comment if you’d like, and then earn points. Each day it is a different, challenging topic; for example, today we are challenged to do lunges when you go to the lunchroom, break room, etc.
Not only has it made a huge impact on our employees, it has added a fun element to our workspace! More and more employees are redeeming the points earned from the program for “wellness” type rewards; one employee used her points to purchase a treadmill.
Has your organization instituted a health and wellness program? Is your organization rewarding those who exhibit healthy habits?
