Do Your Client Require You to Implement a Wellness Program?

[cstjuste]

Hi Everyone,

I enjoy this forum and appreciate the advice shared. I am not a broker, but I do own a company that puts on health events such as health fairs, guest speaking, screenings, etc. Dealing with HR reps, I run into 3 kinds:

1. They say their broker takes care of their wellness program
2. They are always looking for something new and interesting.
3. The company doesn't do anything, doesn't care.

Does anyone have any experience with this subject? As more companies are looking to implement wellness programs, my experience has been that more HR reps are setting up these events with their brokers, and I have been in contact with brokers who utilize organizations such as mine to setup these events. Also, from an HR rep I've spoken too I was told companies with over 500 employees are required to have health fair (I'm in California). What is your take on providing a corporate wellness program?

 

[ABC]

You post a good topic.

Most carriers in todays market offer wellness programs at no additional cost. These are voluntary programs that mainly consist of risk assessments and mini diseases management programs. Most of these programs are done online.

The cost to an employer to set up a wellness program that I think you are talking about is not worth the reward.
How does the employer track the results?

The problem of communicating the results of the health fair with the company/HR is you could be violating HIPPA on groups under 200 lives and don't even think about group under 100 lives.

To be honest I think you will have a hard time in your field.

 

[cstjuste]

You have some very good points ABC, and if a company is going to implement a program then yes they would like to see the ROI. However from the research I've done it seems like companies don't see the ROI anywhere between 1-5 years.

In order to comply with HIPAA, then couldn't productivity measures be used in order to gage the effectiveness of such programs?

I think there are some companies that like to have a program in place so that it is accessible by employees if they need it, and there are some companies that like to take a proactive approach to implementing wellness, which are the ones we work with.

Could you clarify on the violation for HIPAA for groups under 200 lives?

 

[ABC]

I hear your selling points but reality is very different.

When you talk about ROI:
Its a tough sale to say we might have a decrease in claims in the next 5 years. Industries that really need a wellness program might have high turn over to where 5 years ROI is not going to work.

Productivity is a nice selling point but on groups that size that want to see claims reductions.

On HIPPA if you have a 200 life group and you report back the medical information you collect then the privacy office could determine which employee has what. This is an issue that could result in abuse.

Most carriers have a whats called a "predictive model to claims" They come in and say if we take these wellness programs we could reduce claims in 5 years.
This is a true and fair statement. Your talking up to 5 years and maybe see an impact on claims overall.

The other reality is only about 10% of the company will participate and 10% is high. I think the national avg for wellness programs is around 4%.

I don't want to crush your dreams of making big sales and you might be able to. I am in the midwest where life style is very different than Cali.

You have some very good points ABC, and if a company is going to implement a program then yes they would like to see the ROI. However from the research I've done it seems like companies don't see the ROI anywhere between 1-5 years.

In order to comply with HIPAA, then couldn't productivity measures be used in order to gage the effectiveness of such programs?

I think there are some companies that like to have a program in place so that it is accessible by employees if they need it, and there are some companies that like to take a proactive approach to implementing wellness, which are the ones we work with.

Could you clarify on the violation for HIPAA for groups under 200 lives?

 

[cstjuste]

Thank you very much for the insight ABC. I do not think modern civilization would have advance so far without the discussion and higher level thinking.