Payers and employers are demonstrating that wellness programs can curb increases in healthcare costs and improve workforce productivity as employees become more involved in their health.
Health plans shared their programs and results to date at the session on "Wellness, prevention and incentives: Moving the needle" on Thursday at the 2013 AHIP Institute in Las Vegas. The conference continues through Friday.
Additionally, the Affordable Care Act has increased the level of awards for wellness programs. Employers think this will work, said Ron Trammel, manager, Health Promotion and Education, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (BCBST), which has a wellness certification program that targets mid-sized employers.
"Employers need to want to invest in a worksite program," he said. After employees fill out a personal health assessment and biometrics, the program places them in risk categories, which triggers outreach from a coach. The employer group agrees to sponsor quarterly wellness activities. The BCBST team meets with the group at least twice a year and evaluates progress annually.
For completion of Year 1, the group receives a 2 percent to 4 percent premium credit. "In Year 2 we want them to start sharing participation data and movement from one risk category to another," Trammel said.
Tom Meier, vice president, Product Development, Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), parent of BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, said that wellness is "as much about care and cost avoidance as it is about cost management. It's better to reach people before they are at risk, and better to reach at-risk individuals before full-blown chronic conditions require care management," he said.
So the company has variety of products to fit different commitment goals of the employees and company management.
"You don't have to have much money in incentives to move the needle," Meier said. One company only had $100 to reward employees. But the employer didn't know much about the health of their group and focused on awareness.
After three years in the program, the employer realized lower per member per year costs, while the costs rose for those employees who did not participate. "There's money to be had," he said.
MVP Health Care, a regional not-for-profit insurance company in New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont helps manage has a partnership it created with grocer Price Chopper for wellness programs for its employees, starting with a weight-loss challenge.
Emily Light, manager, Clinical Account Management with MVP said that continued senior leadership buy-in and participation is key to sustain the program beyond the first year positive bump of weight-loss improvement because they control the funding and policies that allow participation.