The idea has been around a while – offer employees memberships to gyms, diet and nutrition plans, even build activity centers onsite. Corporations have tried it all in a desperate attempt to keep healthcare costs down.
A survey of large companies released in August by the National Business Group on Health found that 61 percent of firms said they found such initiatives to be among the three most effective tactics for keeping a lid on healthcare costs, Sarah Halzack reported.
Each year, General Motors, like Ford and other U.S. automakers, pays more than $1,500 in healthcare costs Some companies even offer financial rewards for healthy behavior-- like losing weight and giving up cigarettes -- that could keep them healthier and out of the doctor’s office. The study found that the median compensation amount will rise to $450 in 2013, up from $300 in 2012, Hazlack noted. Others penalize workers for unhealthy behaviors like smoking. for every car they make, according to Fox News.
Some corporate programs encourage familiesParents who adopt a daily exercise habit help kids get and stay active — a key priority for fighting rising child obesity and type 2 diabetes rates – also producing huge costs for companies. to work out together.
And why not? Dependents’ healthcare costs are soaring, right along with employees’ — at 14.7 percent of a large employer’s typical health care costs for children and teens, not counting the productivity loss for working parents of sick/injured children, according to another study by the National Business Group on Health.
In some cases, employers have taken on the idea of a wellness program in a big way, hiring companies to establish gyms, saunas, and showers on-site, hoping employees would be more enthusiastic (and likely to use them) if they were so convenient. Alas, it doesn’t always work out, according to Christina Wilkie.
Wellness programs are the fastest growing category of employee benefits in a recent survey, but they may benefit employers more than workers, it found. Who wouldn’t benefit from a workforce that’s healthier?
Edited by
Rich Steeves
