Company Wellness : Controversial Wellness Strategies.

Here’s more evidence that health promotion programs pay for themselves –

Over the last two years, one corporation in five has seen meaningful improvement in employees’ health status – and started to stabilize their costs – as reported by one study.

Among firms noting improvement, almost two-thirds (64%) feature wellness programs offering incentives for healthier life choices.

Here are three twists on traditional incentives that’re getting good results –

1. Health coach outreach

A lot of firms require personnel to work with an individual health coach in order to get a discount on monthly premiums or earn cash incentives.

The most common set-up –  on a regular basis, the worker must set up appointments with and report to (either over the phone or face to face) his or her health Coach.

But experience has shown there’s often a high dropout rate.

People  get off to a great begin – and they’re enthusiastic about the incentive – but once they realize there’s some effort involved, they lose interest.

The good news –  Firms have found a simple-to-arrange alternative that keeps individuals  on the right track. Rather than requiring workers to contact the wellness Coach, a growing number of businesses require participants to take calls from the wellness Coach.

Potential result –  Fewer folks fall off the wagon. There’s no outreach effort involved, and the wellness coach keeps individuals  accountable.

2. Nutritional education/therapy

A newer – and cost-effective – feature in the battle against employee obesity –  offering an employee nutrition-education program administered by a specialist nutritionist.

Just 11% of companies – 18%  of large businesss and 7.5% of small to medium ones – have such health promotion programs, as reported by SHRM’s most recent benefits survey.

Even fewer offer (via their EAPs) nutritional therapy for people  with consuming disorders. But available data on these wellness programs shows they normally pay for themselves.

The stronger the firm’s emphasis on teaching healthy consuming, the faster and more dramatic the reduction in major health claims.

Common plan features –  lunch and learns featuring healthy food choices, giving out nutrition-linked gift cards and extending obesity-prevention incentives to individuals ’s family members.

3. Assertive use of tobacco cessation

A small, but rapidly growing number of corporations are taking more aggressive measures to avoid the costs associated with employees who smoke.

The step may be broken down into three levels of aggressiveness and potential risk/reward.

Level one –  the business installs a wellness program in which non-smoking personnel and those who commit to maintaining a healthful weight receive financial incentives that lower their share of monthly premiums.

Level two –  the business disqualifies job candidates who smoke from hiring consideration. Alternatively, some firms require health risks assessments as a condition of being hired.

Level three –  the company docks pay or fires staff who fail to control their lifestyle-related health risks.

Example –  Clarian Health made news last fall for sending notice to workforce that as of Jan. 1,  2009, individuals  who smoke or chew tobacco would begin be charged $5 per paycheck.

Are these strategies legal? at level one, the answer is a qualified yes. health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA)s non-discrimination rules permit such incentives within limits.

In a nutshell, it’s legal to reward personnel who quit tobacco use but illegal to punish those who try and fail. When an staff member tries but fails to quit tobacco use, you’re still legally obligated to give them another shot next year.

Also keep in mindthat, by law, the size of the reward or penalty under your health promotion program can’t exceed 20% of the sum cost of coverage.

At levels two and three, it remains to be seen if such policies would hold up in court. Proceed with caution.