Wellness Programs Pay Off

Economic times are tough and everyone is cutting back where they can. One moving target that businesses have to deal with is the rising costs of health insurance for employees. Rather than eliminate this valuable benefit that helps attract, keep, and take care of a valued workforce, companies are looking for ways to contain insurance costs.

Keeping employees healthy and productive now ranks among the top three business priorities, according to Hewitt Associates’ 2008 survey of 500-plus U.S. companies. Investing in wellness yields benefits in productivity, health, and reductions in insurance premiums. Healthier people are happier, more engaged, and file fewer medical claims.

Here are some examples of companies investing in wellness to reap financial benefits or at least keep the insurance premium wolf away from the door.

Johnson & Johnson’s Healthy People program, which saves an estimated $9 to $10 million per year from reduced medical utilization and lower administrative expenses.

At Milwaukee’s Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., the health care cost trend over the 3 years since their program launched has decreased from 13 percent per year to 7 percent per year, and it is expected to be lower in 2010 as well. (read more …)

The average claim amount at a Plano-based construction company, Hill & Wilkinson General Contractors, for employees in the wellness program was $3,720, compared with $4,443 for other employees from February 2008 to January 2009. (read more …)

MetLife reports a savings of $1.38 million per year in medical costs and a ROI of $2.52:1 for programs targeted to improving employee health risk profiles.

Corning reported that its disease management program had an ROI of $3.71:1 over a 2 year period.

Investments in corporate wellness pay dividends in employee morale, productivity, and in controlling the costs of providing high quality benefits to employees and covered dependents.

Get more ammunition to back up your wellness initiatives and information on implementing a wellness program with our free reports:

Worksite Wellness: Financial Reasons to Invest in Workplace Wellness

Wellness at Work: Practical Information for Setting Up a Corporate Wellness Program