The use of health and wellness programs continues to grow, with more than three-quarters of the employers in a recent survey offering them, and more than half of those without programs planning to implement one. Increasingly, these employers are encouraging employee participation in wellness initiatives by offering incentives for participation, with more than seven in 10 employers doing so in 2008. Why? Employers are becoming more successful in measuring these programs� return on investment, and finding that they are more than breaking even.
The survey is the second annual from Health2 Resources, and respondents were employers that are members of the National Association of Manufacturers and the ERISA Industry Committee.
According to the survey, in 2008, 77% of the employers offered health and wellness programs � a 5% increase over 2007 � and 48% offered disease management programs. Among the health and wellness programs:
|
Type of Program |
% of Employers Offering |
| Health Risk Assessment |
62% |
| Physical Activity/Exercise |
50% |
| Smoking Cessation |
43% |
| Weight Management |
40% |
| Safety Program |
23% |
| Stress Reduction |
12% |
| Maternity Management |
11% |
| Work-Loss Prevention |
10% |
Between 2007 and 2008 the survey reported a �substantial shift� in the types of incentives employees could earn for taking part in health and wellness programs. The use of gift cards � now the most prevalent incentive � increased from 17% to 28%, while offering a premium reduction declined from 41% to 26%. In 2008, employers used these incentives:
|
Incentive |
% of Employers Offering |
| Gift Cards |
28% |
| Premium Reduction |
26% |
| Cash/Bonuses |
24% |
| Small Token |
23% |
| Merchandise |
19% |
| Health Club Membership |
18% |
| Recognition |
16% |
| Health Account Contribution |
13% |
The value of incentives ranged between $100 and $300 per person per year, with the average incentive value being just under $200.
The most common behaviors rewarded with an incentive were participation in the health and wellness initiative (48% of employers provided the incentive for this), completing a program (38%), and signing up for or enrolling in a program (25%). The survey notes that these behaviors are easy to track, and they �steer clear of regulatory caps on monetary incentives� that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) place on programs tied to a health-related standard. That said, some employers did require the employee to achieve an outcome or goal before awarding the incentive (16% for achieving this during the program, 12% for achieving it after the program, and 6% for maintaining it after the program).
Most employers implementing health and wellness programs still do not measure return on investment (ROI), with only 36% of respondents saying they had attempted to do this in 2008 and 26% saying they had done so successfully. Among those who were able to measure ROI, 83% estimated an ROI greater than break-even in 2008, up from 66% in 2007.
The complete survey results are available through the ERISA Industry Committee�s web site, www.eric.org.
