Contrary to recent reports, employers in cost-saving mode are not likely to cut wellness programs, according to findings released by the nonprofit Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI). In fact, IBI's survey of more than 400 employers shows less than 5 percent plan to reduce or eliminate health and productivity management initiatives.
"For health care reform to be successful we must focus on improving health and the importance of a healthy workforce or we will have a recipe for disaster that will cost the system more money than we can afford," said Thomas Parry, Ph.D., president of IBI, in a released statement. "Employers understand this and are continuing, overall, to offer and improve their health and productivity management programs as is evidenced by our latest research."
Employers are far more likely to expand the resources they commit to an existing health and productivity management (HPM) program, according to IBI, which did the study in conjunction with Harris Interactive. Specifically, for 12 of the 26 programs, more than 30 percent of employers with programs plan to increase resources in the next two years.
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IBI says employers are likely to increase support in the following HPM programs: participation incentives, nutritious meals/snacks, chronic disease management, weight management, nutrition education, fitness programs, value-based benefits, health risk assessments, and stress reduction education.
"We view our HPM programs as critical to improving the health and productivity of our employees," said David Kasper, vice president, Employee Benefits, Waste Management. "By aligning incentives to encourage our employees to complete health assessments and also rewarding certain behaviors, we are able to see benefits resulting from healthier employees and family members as well as improved productivity. This helps to improve our competitive position in the market, enables us to further invest in the health of our employees and our business and deliver improved shareholder returns."
IBI says full research results will be available later this year. A detailed analysis and a discussion of relevance to employers will be presented in February at the 2010 IBI/NBCH Health & Productivity Forum in San Antonio.
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