The Wall Street Journal Online -June 14, 2009
Get Well, or Pay Not To
By Jilian Mincer
Consumers may be able to improve their health -- and bottom line -- by participating in company-sponsored wellness programs.
More employers are offering cash, discounts and even lower health-insurance premiums to entice workers to participate in a variety of programs. And starting next year, employees could have further incentive to get healthy as more companies add penalties to insurance premiums for workers who don't partake.
"It's an opportunity to get cash for doing what's right for you," says Shelly Wolff, a senior consultant at consulting firm Watson Wyatt.
Despite cutbacks amid the recession, 58% of large U.S. companies now offer lifestyle-improvement programs, up from 43% in 2007, according to a Watson Wyatt study. And 56% provide health coaches, compared with 44% in 2007. Health-risk appraisals are offered at 80% of companies, up from 72% in 2007.
Discounts and Freebies
Ms. Wolff says employees may be able to get $200 to $300 for participating in health-risk appraisals, smoking-cessation, weight-management and preventive-care classes.
Other offerings include heavily discounted weight-loss programs and free or discounted gym memberships. At some companies, employees who participate are rewarded with gift cards or lower insurance premiums.
Information about programs and incentives, which vary by company, is available at an employer's human-resources department or through an insurance plan.
Insurer Aetna offers its 35,000 employees one of the most generous wellness programs. Workers and their families could earn up to $1,200 back each year via their paychecks or health savings accounts for completing a health-risk assessment, identifying and completing family health goals, making healthy food choices and participating in a variety of fitness activities.
Play or Pay
Participation in wellness programs is voluntary, Ms. Wolff says, but more companies are expected to "shift to a surcharge" in 2010 for those workers who don't, say, take the health-risk assessment or work with a professional to better manage a chronic illness. For instance, some companies may charge employees who don't participate an extra $25 a month in insurance premiums.
"It's enough [of an increase] to get your attention," she says.
Alwyn Cassil, a spokeswoman for the Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, D.C., says wellness programs can be beneficial -- especially if they're individually designed -- but employees "need to understand who has access to the information and what firewalls have been set up between vendors and employers."
For example, the information for the health-risk assessment should be gathered by a third party and should only be given to the employer in aggregate to determine what wellness programs would benefit employees.
Companies have a long-term incentive to offer programs -- and get workers to participate. It takes about two to five years for businesses to see the benefit, but for every $1 they spend on the programs, they save $2, according to Kathy Harte, co-leader of the health and clinical consulting practice at consulting firm Hewitt Associates.
In some cases, the savings could be even higher.
