Employee Wellness Programs are proven to improve productivity and decrease health care costs. For a business, that makes a difference in the bottom-line. Today, more than 81% of America’s businesses with 50 or more staff members have some form of Workplace Health Promotion Plan with the most popular being exercise, tobaccos cessation classes, back care programs, and stress management. The majority of businesses offer Employee Wellness Programs simply because they think the benefit is worth the cost. Yet business leaders continue to ask themselves how to control huge annual increases in medical insurance premiums and health care costs.
For many companies, health costs can consume half of corporate profits or more. Some employer’s look to cost sharing, cost shifting, managed care plans, risk rating, and cash-based rebates or rewards. But these methods merely shift costs. Only Employee Wellness Programs stand out as the long-term answer for keeping staff members well in the first place.
Employee Wellness Programs are an example of health care reform that works. Results from America’s finest companies, summarized here, are reason enough to consider offering Employee Wellness Programs. This investment in your most important asset – your staff members – can have a positive impact on your bottom-line.
Workplace Health Promotion Plan Statistics:
Providence Everett Medical Center, a member of the Wellness Councils of America, in Everett, Washington, saved an estimated 3 million or a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 3.8 over 9 years of an outcomes-based Employee Wellness Program. By offering financial rewards ($250 – $325) to staff members who meet specific organizational and staff member health initiatives the Workplace Health Promotion Plan continues to meet cost containment expectations in the area of health care use, sick time, injuries, while improving health habits and self-care practices.
During the first 4 years of the Workplace Health Promotion Plan there was a 28% average reduction in health care utilization compared to nine other Providence hospitals that were used as a control group.
Du Pont saw that every dollar invested in their Workplace Health Promotion Plan returned $1.42 over two years in decreased rates of absenteeism costs at Du Pont Co. (Well worksite Gold in Delaware). Absences from illness unrelated to the job among 45,000 blue-collar staff members dropped 14% at 41 industrial sites where the Workplace Health Promotion Plan was offered, compared with a 5.8% decline at 19 sites where it was not.
The Travelers Corporation claims a $3.40 return for every dollar invested Employee Wellness Programs, yielding total corporate savings of $146 million in benefits costs. Sick leave was lowered 19% during the four-year research study. In addition to improving the overall health of 36,000 staff members and retirees by lowering poor health habits and increasing good ones, The Travelers realized cost savings by decreasing the number of unnecessary visits to a doctor and emergency rooms. In a similar but smaller research study, members of a Travelers fitness center Workplace Health Promotion Plan were absent from work significantly fewer days than non-members.
The Workplace Health Promotion Plan at Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Company, located in Las Vegas, cost $76.24 per staff member during the two years it has been in operation. Over half of the 1,600 staff members took part in the Employee Wellness Program. Participants significantly lowered cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and weight and experienced 21% lower lifestyle-related claim costs than non-participant. Resulting savings: $127.89 per participant in the Workplace Health Promotion Plan with a benefit to cost ratio of 1.68 to 1.
Superior Coffee and Foods, a Bensenville, Illinois-based subsidiary of Sara Lee Corporation, attributes impressive results to the success of the corporation’s comprehensive Employee Wellness Program. Superior showed 22% fewer admissions to a hospital, 29% shorter hospital stays, and 42% lower expenses per admission when comparing costs for this division’s 1,200 staff members with costs for other divisions. Long-term disability costs were down by 40%.
With health costs per staff member at $6,000, nearly twice the national average, Union Pacific Railroad introduced their Workplace Health Promotion Plan to its 28,000 staff members, mostly union and blue collar, in 19 Western and Southern states. Beginning with a modest health self-care initiative at an annual cost of $50 per person, the Workplace Health Promotion Plan achieved a net savings of $1.26 million. In addition, a voluntary Workplace Health Promotion Plan to help staff members reduce health risks projected a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.57 after one year. Employees in a treatment group reduceed their risk of high blood pressure (45%) and high cholesterol (34%); others moved out of the at-risk range for weight problems (30%); and 21% stopped smoking.
Average health costs of high-risk Steelcase staff members- those whose lifestyles include two to four health risks such as smoking, little exercise, overweight- are 75% higher than those of low-risk staff members. But high-risk staff members at this Grand Rapids, Michigan-furniture manufacturing corporation who enhanced their health habits through the company’s Workplace Health Promotion Plan and became low risk cut their average health claims in half thus lowering their health insurance costs by an average of $618 per year. If all high-risk staff members (20% of the total staff member population) in one location changed their lifestyles to become low risk, the projected savings could total $20 million over three years.
Employees at Berk-Tec, a small manufacturing corporation in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, learned self-care techniques and reduceed their corporation’s health care costs in one year. By using a self-care guide, the 938 staff members and their family members made smart health decisions and saved $21.67 per employee and dependent a nearly 18% reduction in costs. By combining reductions in doctor visits and emergency room use, the corporation saved $39.06 per employee a 24.3% decrease in costs over the previous year.
A health claims-based research study of 72,000 people insured through 285 Wisconsin school districts found a decreased demand for health services among those with access to Employee Wellness Programs and self-care programs. Reductions in health services results in savings for the Wisconsin Education Insurance Group of as much as $4.75 for each $1 spent, higher savings were found in the group receiving access to a 24-hour phone-based nurse advice line, a self-care reference book, and health education materials.
CIGNA’s Healthy Babies prenatal Workplace Health Promotion Plan delivered an average savings of $5,000 per birth by offering expectant mothers with educational materials and rewarding early and regular prenatal care. And 80% of participants had normal births without complications compared with 50% for non-participant.
With savings estimated to be as high as $8 million, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System sent its 55,000 retirees a health risk appraisal followed, in some cases, with individualized reports and letters and self-care materials to encourage change and help reduce health risks among retirees and at the same time reduce the health care claim costs. In another research study, Bank of America retirees in California who chose the full Workplace Health Promotion Plan and demand reduction program showed a decrease in total direct and indirect costs of 11% compared with an increase of 6.3% for those who completed only a simple health questionnaire.
With decreased health care claims, health costs decreased 16% for workers in the City of Mesa (Arizona) who took part in the comprehensive Employee Wellness Program. The city realized a return of $3.60 for every dollar invested in the wellnss program for the city workers.
To prevent back injuries among its workers, a county in California targeted white- and blue-collar staff members, offered classes and fitness training. As a result, there was a significant increase in staff member morale, lowered worker’s comp claims, health costs and sick days related to back injuries producing a net cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.79.
Employee Wellness Programs: Results
Employee Wellness Programs provide Long-Term Results
Employee Wellness Programs, according to an article in Crain’s Detroit Business, come in two choices: Employee Wellness Programs or Health Insurance products that aim to reduce costs if healthy habits are followed. Both options are good, but only one will really provide long-term health benefits for your workers and reduce costs over the years.
Employee Wellness Programs provide Help
Insurance-based products provide workers the opportunity, according to the article by Jay Green, to save money on their premiums if they follow certain steps, including performing an internet-based health assessment, visiting their medical provider, and agree to adopt a healthy lifestyle. These plans usually involve one coach call to the staff member during the first 90 days. We wonder if these brief wellness encounters will actually change a person’s lifestyle.
It is the overall change in a person’s lifestyle, as well as disease prevention that will lead to reduce medical cots in the future.
Employee Wellness Programs provide convenient Health Risk Assessments and health screening for things like diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure. As the article notes, these have initial start-up costs, but the savings accrue over time and workers are more likely to stay active in an workplace staff member Wellness Program.
Employee Wellness Programs Get Results
Finally, the article notes that corporations with an effective Workplace Health Promotion Plan can expect to see “500 percent reduce absenteeism, 400 percent fewer disability claims, and 350 percent reduce health care costs.” These are numbers that are very hard to argue with.
