Employee Health Promotion

Employee Health Promotion Programs are proven to improve productivity and reduce 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 employees have some form of Employee Health Promotion Program with the most popular being exercise, tobaccos cessation classes, back care programs, and stress management. Most employers offer Employee Health Promotion 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 health insurance premiums and health care costs.

For many businesses, 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 incentives and rewards. But these methods merely shift costs. Only Employee Health Promotion Programs stand out as the long-term answer for keeping employees well in the first place.

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

Employee Health Promotion Program 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 Health Promotion Program. By providing financial incentives and rewards ($250 – $325) to employees who meet specific organizational and employee health initiatives the Employee Health Promotion Program 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 Employee Health Promotion Program 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 Employee Health Promotion Program returned $1.42 over two years in reduced absenteeism costs at Du Pont Co. (Well workplace Gold in Delaware). Absences from illness unrelated to the job among 45,000 blue-collar workers dropped 14% at 41 industrial sites where the Employee Health Promotion Program 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 Health Promotion Programs, yielding total corporate savings of $146 million in benefits costs. Sick leave was lowered 19% during the four-year study. In addition to improving the overall health of 36,000 employees 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 Employee Health Promotion Program were absent from work significantly fewer days than non-members.

The Employee Health Promotion Program at Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Company, based in Las Vegas, cost $76.24 per employee during the two years it has been in operation. Over half of the 1,600 employees participated in the Employee Health Promotion 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 Employee Health Promotion Program 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 business’s comprehensive Employee Health Promotion 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 employees with costs for other divisions. Long-term disability costs were down by 40%.

With health costs per employee at $6,000, nearly twice the national average, Union Pacific Railroad introduced their Employee Health Promotion Program to its 28,000 employees, 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 Employee Health Promotion Program achieved a net savings of $1.26 million. In addition, a voluntary Employee Health Promotion Program to help employees decrease health risks projected a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.57 after one year. Employees in a treatment group decreaseed 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 employees- those whose lifestyles include two to four health risks such as smoking, little exercise, overweight- are 75% higher than those of low-risk employees. But high-risk employees at this Grand Rapids, Michigan-furniture manufacturing business who improved their health habits through the company’s Employee Health Promotion Program 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 employees (20% of the total employee 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 business in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, learned self-care techniques and decreaseed their business’s health care costs in one year. By using a self-care guide, the 938 employees 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 reduced demand for health services among those with access to Employee Health Promotion 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 Employee Health Promotion Program 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 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 study, Bank of America retirees in California who chose the full Employee Health Promotion Program 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 reduced health care claims, health costs decreased 16% for employees in the City of Mesa (Arizona) who participated in the comprehensive Employee Health Promotion Program. The city realized a return of $3.60 for every dollar invested in the wellnss program for the city employees.

To prevent back injuries among its employees, a county in California targeted white- and blue-collar workers, offered classes and fitness training. As a result, there was a significant increase in employee 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 Health Promotion Programs: Benefits

Employee Health Promotion Programs offer Long-Term Benefits

Employee Health Promotion Programs, according to an article in Crain’s Detroit Business, come in two varieties: Employee Health Promotion Programs or Health Insurance products that aim to reduce costs if healthy habits are followed. Both options are good, but only one will really offer long-term health benefits for your employees and reduce costs over the years.

Employee Health Promotion Programs offer Assistance

Insurance-based products offer employees 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 doctor, and agree to adopt a healthy lifestyle. These plans usually involve one coach call to the employee during the first 90 days. We wonder if these brief wellness encounters will actually change a individual’s lifestyle.

It is the overall change in a individual’s lifestyle, as well as disease prevention that will lead to reduce medical cots in the future.

Employee Health Promotion Programs offer convenient health risk assessments and health screening for things like diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure. As the article states, these have initial start-up costs, but the savings accrue over time and employees are more likely to stay active in an onsite employee Health Promotion Program.

Employee Health Promotion Programs Get Results

Finally, the article states that businesses with an effective Employee Health Promotion Program 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.