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Draft 1
Wellness programs have been around since the 1980’s but it
wasn’t until their appearance in the 2010 Affordable Care Act document that
made them popular in companies nationwide. These programs along with incentives
help employees, and even consumers, take steps towards healthier lifestyles.
What could be wrong with that?
What interested me about this topic was not only seeing what
kinds of health programs employers are providing but also what were the overall
benefits for both employers and employees? Little did I know that upon further
research of those companies adopting these programs would I find that there
were groups very much against these programs. I’ll go into further detail below
about this very controversy that brings the Equal Employee Opportunity
Committee and the Americans with Disabilities Act into the clear as they give
their statements. It’s important to address the positives of negatives of these
programs now as they become more widespread across major U.S. companies. These
programs can do a lot of good getting people involved in healthier lifestyles
while decreasing overall health costs for just about everyone involved.
Wellness Programs and
the Affordable Care Act
The rise in popularity of the wellness programs came from
the new Affordable Care Act enacted in 2010. However, the specific rules
regarding wellness programs didn’t take effect until or after January 1, 2014. “The
Affordable Care Act creates new incentives and builds on existing wellness
program policies to promote employer wellness programs” (U.S. Department of
Labor). The types of programs vary from
company to company but all offer a similar array of incentives for reaching
certain health goals, and for providing programs that help employees reach
these goals. One type is the participatory wellness program that are “generally
available without regard to an individual’s health status” (U.S. Department of
Labor). Some of these programs will “reimburse for the cost of membership in a
fitness center or reward employees who complete a health risk assessment” (U.S.
Department of Labor). Another type of program the Affordable Care Act mentions
are health-contingent wellness programs. These include programs that reward
users who decrease, or stop, their use of tobacco. Or provide rewards to
individuals who reach a specified cholesterol level or weight (U.S. Department
of Labor). While these programs have been around for quite some time before
2010, this new documentation makes adopting these types of programs more
appealing for the cost savings they are producing.
Company Wellness
Programs
From credit card companies to healthcare insurance giants,
businesses across America are beginning to implement different types of
wellness programs. Take healthcare
company, Cigna, who offers incentives to its consumers (versus employees) for
improvements in their health, “customers who reach their goals receive a
financial discount on health premiums or a contribution to their Health Savings
Account” (Dion 2016). Cigna’s wellness programs offer a technology-human hybrid
which has shown to keep employees more engaged in the program leading to higher
success rates by using online coaches to motivate and engage members. The most
challenging part of wellness programs is employee engagement since it takes
several weeks for people to make a significant lifestyle change. Joe Mondy,
director of public relations for Cigna, says “we’ve seen medical inflation fall
down below 5% as a direct result of our programs…this is the way of the future
in terms of solving health care costs.”
United Healthcare is another insurer expanding its wellness
programs to include access to the Real Appeal weight-loss program. Real Appeal
CEO, Steve Olin, reported that “United Healthcare is committed to finding new
approached to helping people reduce their risk for weight-related health
conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes. When employees are at a healthy
weight, they are more productive and have less absenteeism.” The more Real
Appeal’s program is adopted by larger employers nationwide, they estimate savings
of more than $25 million in health care costs annually. The Real Appeal weight
loss program is primarily technology-based using smartphones, tablets, or
computers to connect with users and provide alerts and reminders, while also
helping track goals. The program also offers face-to-face video conferencing
and interactive messaging with online coaches.
American Express is another company that offers wellness
based incentives. “Employees are offered a $100 reward just for coming in for a
health assessment; the company always provides an array of free support
services, including health coaching, maintenance drugs and preventative care.” These
programs helped an American Express employee lose more than 40 pounds. Of
course, there are many more success stories within American Express and in
other companies as well. These are just a few examples of the programs offered
everywhere, and the positive benefits they incur!
The Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission and Privacy
Although it may seem that incentivizing employees for improving
their health would be an act of greater good, there are some organizations that
think otherwise. Groups like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and
the Americans with Disabilities Act have both argued against proposed cases of
privacy invasion and employee discrimination based on health. The Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission has been pursuing legal actions against
programs that they believe are violating federal antidiscrimination laws. The
E.E.O.C “has argued, unsuccessfully in some cases, that employers have wellness
programs that violate laws prohibiting them from demanding medical information
from workers.” Additionally, E.E.O.C has issued proposed regulations “that
would forbid companies to make health screenings a condition of insurance
coverage.”
Even the Americans with Disabilities Act have been fighting
companies and declaring that companies requiring employee’s
The NY Times article Could
Health Overhaul Incentives Hurt Some? points out another interesting
downside of wellness program incentives. Offering premium discounts to those employees
that achieve certain health standards would naturally shift costs to the less
healthy employees, writes the author, Roni Caryn Rabin. “Advocates for people with chronic ailments
like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease say they welcome initiatives that
enable employees to incorporate exercise or weight counseling into their
workday,” but this only shows the positive effects of wellness programs. People
with other conditions, like asthma, may not be able to participate in some of
the wellness programs, and therefore they shouldn’t be penalized with higher
insurance premiums in comparison to their ‘healthier’ counterparts.
Discussion and Final Thoughts
I only barely scratched the
surface of the vast amount of wellness programs out there offered in certain
companies. However, I think it’s important for more employers to adopt programs
like the ones that Cigna and United Healthcare have adopted. What I suggest,
considering certain privacy and discrimination accusations that have been made,
is that companies adopt programs that work well for their company culture.
Programs that aren’t mandatory, and that don’t penalize employees for not
participating, or in some case not being ‘healthy’ enough. Even employees can
enjoy the benefits of these free programs offered by their work then hopefully
they will take them for granted. For companies, these wellness programs are
more than reducing health care costs but rather it’s an investment in their
workplace talent. Happier and healthier people will ultimately perform better
at their jobs which will help improve overall company performance. For me,
these wellness programs offer a plethora of benefits to businesses and their
employees. I think the legal action being taken by the E.E.O.C is a bit
far-fetched since it seems that most companies aren’t demanding their employees
to give up certain health records for them to participate in the programs.
Although that committee would be considered a good guy, they seem to be
attacking programs that are just trying to make people healthy. I’m a bit
biased though. It will be interesting to see changing health care benefit
packages in companies as I start my post-grad career search. For me, a company
invested in my well-being is a top candidate, and I hope more companies begin
to realize this important for more potential employees moving into the future.
References
Abelson, Redd. “Employee Wellness Programs Use Carrots and,
Increasingly Sticks.” nytimes.com.
N.p., 24 Jan. 2016. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/25/business/employee-wellness-programs-use-carrots-and-increasingly-sticks.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth
Dion, Kathy. “Tech-enabled workplace wellness programs a
growing trend.” Home Health Technology News. 8 Nov. 2016. Retrieved from http://www.homehealthtechnologynews.com/payers/tech-enabled-workplace-wellness-programs-a-growing-trend/
Rabin, Roni Caryn. "Could Health Overhaul Incentives
Hurt Some?" nytimes.com. N.p., 12 Apr. 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2017. Retrieved
from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/health/13land.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth
U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration.
The Affordable Care Act and Wellness
Programs. 17 Oct. 2014. Retrieved from
The IT wellness programs were becoming so important I did not know before. That you brought out a real life example of how the interviewing a family friend added a personal touch to your effort and research. I also learned a lot how the IT wellness programs are actually helping both the employees as well the employers. This aspect of the presentation was interesting because you talked about how there were voices that were disagreeing to the whole notion of adding benefits to the health of the employees. I came to know that it is being adopted by a lot of companies in the United States and that focus on healthy life style is growing day aby day and companies are getting serious about it. I also came to know about the incentive policies being adopted by the American express. I would also wanted to know what is the scenario of the IT wellness programs in the developing world. Like in India, Malayasia,Indonesia. The overall presentation was really effective and learnt a lot about a growing trend all over the world.
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