By David Markiewicz
Free smoking cessation programs. Cash credits for workers taking self-assessment health surveys. On-site vaccinations and fitness training classes. Nutritional counseling. Subsidized gym memberships.
Employers have spent plenty in recent years to keep employees healthy, hoping that will keep them on the job and less likely to use health care insurance. That can lead to lower health care costs which were estimated in one national survey to average more than $7,000 per employee per year.
The return on investment in wellness is hard to measure, though, making such programs targets as companies cut jobs, benefits and other expenses to stem financial losses amid the recession. But companies say the programs can work. A study by insurer MetLife found 94 percent of companies with wellness programs said they reduced medical costs.
"The whole point [of wellness programs] is healthier employees and that means lower health care costs overall," said Stephen Holmes, spokesman for Home Depot, which has added to its list of wellness benefits even though the company has battled declining sales lately.
"We're not pulling back," Holmes said. "We're investing in the health of our associates."
Wellness program supporters now hope a fledgling economic recovery, combined with growing political and social support for such programs, will cause employers to expand and improve them. In Washington, legislators are considering a bill that would grant tax credits to companies offering wellness programs. The debate over health care reform also has put a spotlight on costs and benefits.
"CEOs have a tender ear to this issue now. They see their health care premiums continuing to go up every year and if you can show them a cost savings to health and wellness programs they'll see it as a business strategy," said Renzie Richardson, chief executive of Be Healthy For Life, a Cumming-based wellness consultant to small and midsize companies.
Companies should make wellness part of their culture, said Christopher Matthews, vice president and senior health consultant for the Segal Co., a benefits, compensation and human resources consulting firm in New York.
"If they're pennywise and pound foolish, some organizations are cutting back," he said. "The organizations that are successful at this are the ones that pound this hard."
In a June 2009 employee benefits survey of 522 employers, the Society for Human Resource Management found 72 percent offered wellness information, 64 percent provided vaccinations, and 59 percent had wellness programs. Tobacco use cessation programs were offered by 39 percent, weight loss by 30 percent and on-site fitness classes by 12 percent.
Employers who responded generally said they were more likely to add certain wellness benefits in the future than reduce or eliminate them. For example, 5 percent said they planned to add a weight loss program, versus 3 percent who said they would cut or drop one. While 3 percent planned to trim or drop a smoking cessation program, 4 percent planned to add one. Overall, the number of companies offering wellness benefits has grown since 2005, the survey indicated.
The study also found that companies were more likely to trim financial and compensation benefits such as undergraduate educational assistance, incentive bonuses, matching charitable contributions, payroll advances and stock purchase plans.
In metro Atlanta, Home Depot and UPS are among large employers that offer wellness programs.
Among Home Depot's offerings: a $25 per pay period credit to employees (and also to their spouses) who take a voluntary health self-assessment survey, and free flu shots in season. About 25 percent got the shots.
For a company with 300,000 employees, the total cost is not insignificant, Holmes said, although he said he could not provide a figure. Wellness advocates say that over the long haul such costs are offset by savings in employee health insurance premiums which can rise about 10 percent annually, depending on inflation and employee usage.
UPS offers employees at its Sandy Springs corporate center the use of a fitness center, although there is a fee for membership. It also provides employees free tobacco use cessation and weight loss programs, and health fairs.
The approximately 700 employees in the Department of Aviation at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport have been given pedometers to calculate their fitness walking at work, tips on dental care and footwear choice, and tours of the airport's food service options, with an emphasis on the healthy possibilities.
Some employees also participate in twice-a-week fitness happy hours. They are allowed to leave their posts early and head to a room where they do exercise such as yoga and pilates under the guidance of a trainer working for Quick Fitness Solutions. The Atlanta company provides on-site workplace wellness programs that range from exercise to chiropractic care.
Richardson said while employers continue to offer such programs, they are more than ever looking for "the accountability piece."
"Two or three years ago," she said, "it was one of those warm and fuzzy things companies used for recruiting. But with health care costs continuing to go up, they have also begun to see the link between healthy employees and productivity."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution -November 15, 2009
