According to an article in the Witchita Eagle (http://www.kansas.com/2010/09/09/1484748/ness-fits-strategy.html) more and more employers are instituting wellness programs for their employees--up to 81% nationally. The article provides a good summary of the issues involved in establishing a program. But it was encouraging to see more and more employers viewing the health of their employers in this way:
"Employers are starting to view health as a competitive economic advantage," he said. "They're finally starting to focus on the demand side of the equation instead of the cost side."
Healthy workers are not only less expensive they are more productive. This obviously is of great concern to small employers where an absence of just one employee is a major issue. However providing health promotion programs to small employers at no cost is an issue for most health plans. Small employers switch carriers on an annual basis and therefore the payoff of a health promotion program several years down the road makes little economic sense for a health plan who very likely no longer has the group as an account.
No comments:
Post a Comment