A survey by Fidelity Investments and the National Business Group on Health (NBGH) found that 91 percent of polled companies expect to keep their wellness program regardless of any changes that might come out of Washington.
Workers also are eager to participate in the programs, according to a separate survey by the Principal Financial Group. The employee poll found that 47 percent of employees say they either participate in a workplace wellness program or would like to join one.
Despite all this enthusiasm, wellness programs face some real challenges. The most recent wrinkle involves the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2009 (GINA), which prohibits employers from collecting data on family health history if the plan offers incentives to participate.
Some employers say the law is smothering their wellness efforts because it keeps them from offering incentives to complete health surveys, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Still, many employers say they want to keep their programs and find ways around the regulations.
For instance, Sparks Nugget Inc. in Nevada plans to offer two health risk assessment forms at this year's company health fair: one with family-history questions and one without. Nurses will give the first form to the employees to take to their next doctor's visit. The second goes to the company's benefits department.
"I'm not going to get rid of the incentive," said Larry Harvey, the company's executive vice president of human resources.
Harvey is not alone in his support of wellness incentives. The Fidelity/NBGH report found that 57 percent of wellness programs include incentives that have a cash value to encourage participation.
Still, GINA is making it harder for employers to run their plans, and some are looking for ways to get employees involved without costly incentives.
Advocate Health Care, a faith-based integrated health care system, recently created a video that demonstrated the value of wellness and how employees could access the benefits. The company saw a whopping 127 percent increase in participation when they used the video with their other recruitment tools.
While many companies are willing to spend time and money starting a program, many employers don't bother measuring the outcomes of their programs. The Fidelity/NBGH poll found 27 percent of companies don't evaluate their programs' progress, and 65 percent have no measurable goals.
Information and articles provided by the Besselman & Little Agency and United Benefit Advisors.
