Health And Wellness In The WorkplaceHealth And Wellness In The Workplace

Workplace Wellness Initiatives 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 workers have some form of Workplace Health and Wellness Plan with the most popular being exercise, tobaccos cessation classes, back care programs, and stress management. Most businesses offer Workplace Wellness Initiatives simply because they think the benefit is worth the cost. Yet business leaders continue to ask themselves how to control huge annual increases in health insurance premiums and health care costs.

For many companies, health costs can consume 50% of corporate profits or more. Some employer’s look to cost sharing, cost shifting, managed care plans, risk rating, and cash-based rebates or incentives. But these methods merely shift costs. Only Workplace Wellness Initiatives stand out as the long-term answer for keeping workers well in the first place.

Workplace Wellness Initiatives are an example of health care reform that works. Results from America’s finest companies, summarized here, are reason enough to consider providing Workplace Wellness Programs.  This investment in your most important asset – your workers – can have a positive impact on your bottom-line.

Workplace Health and Wellness 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 Workplace Wellness Program. By providing financial incentives ($250 – $325) to workers who meet specific organizational and worker health initiatives the Workplace Health and Wellness 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 and Wellness 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 each dollar invested in their Workplace Health and Wellness Plan returned $1.42 over two years in lower absenteeism costs at Du Pont Co. (Well worksite Gold in Delaware). Absences from illness unrelated to the job among 45,000 blue-collar employees dropped 14% at 41 industrial sites where the Workplace Health and Wellness Plan was provided, compared with a 5.8% decline at 19 sites where it was not.

The Travelers Corporation claims a $3.40 return for each dollar invested Workplace Wellness Programs, yielding total corporate savings of $146 million in benefits costs. Sick leave was reduced 19% during the four-year study. In addition to improving the overall health of 36,000 workers and retirees by reducing 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 study, members of a Travelers fitness center Workplace Health and Wellness Plan were absent from work significantly fewer days than non-members.

The Workplace Health and Wellness Plan at Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Company, located in Las Vegas, cost $76.24 per worker during the two years it has been in operation. Over 50% of the 1,600 workers participated in the Workplace 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 and Wellness 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 company’s broad-based Workplace 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 workers with costs for other divisions. Long-term disability costs were down by 40%.

With health costs per worker at $6,000, nearly twice the national average, Union Pacific Railroad introduced their Workplace Health and Wellness Plan to its 28,000 workers, 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 and Wellness Plan achieved a net savings of $1.26 million. In addition, a voluntary Workplace Health and Wellness Plan to help workers 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 workers- those whose lifestyles include two to four health risks such as smoking, little exercise, overweight- are 75% higher than those of low-risk workers. But high-risk workers at this Grand Rapids, Michigan-furniture manufacturing company who enhanced their health habits through the company’s Workplace Health and Wellness 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 workers (20% of the total worker 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 company in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, learned self-care techniques and reduceed their company’s health care costs in one year. By using a self-care guide, the 938 workers 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 business saved $39.06 per employee a 24.3% decrease in costs over the previous year.

A health claims-based study of 72,000 people insured through 285 Wisconsin school districts found a lower demand for health services among those with access to Workplace Wellness Initiatives 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 and Wellness Plan delivered an average savings of $5,000 per birth by providing 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 rist assessment 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 study, Bank of America retirees in California who chose the full Workplace Health and Wellness 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 lower health care claims, health costs decreased 16% for workers in the City of Mesa (Arizona) who participated in the broad-based Workplace Wellness Program. The city realized a return of $3.60 for each 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 employees, provided classes and fitness training. As a result, there was a significant rise in worker morale, reduced worker’s comp claims, health costs and sick days related to back injuries producing a net cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.79.

Workplace Wellness Programs: Benefits

Workplace Wellness Initiatives provide Long-Term Benefits

Workplace Wellness Programs, according to an article in Crain’s Detroit Business, come in two varieties:  Workplace Wellness Initiatives or Medical Insurance products that aim to lower costs if healthy habits are followed.  Both options are a good choice, but only one will really provide long-term health benefits for your workers and lower costs over the years.

Workplace Wellness Initiatives provide Assistance

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 online health assessment, visiting their physician, and agree to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  These plans usually involve one coach call to the worker 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 lower health costs in the future.

Workplace Wellness Initiatives provide convenient Health Risk Assessments (HRAs) and testing 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 worksite worker Wellness Program.

Workplace Wellness Initiatives Get Results

Finally, the article notes that businesses with an effective Workplace Health and Wellness Plan can expect to see “500 percent lower absenteeism, 400 percent fewer disability claims, and 350 percent lower health care costs.”  These are numbers that are very hard to argue with.