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Why Promote Wellness?

whypromotewellnessWorkplace Wellness: Why Promote Wellness?

What is Workplace Wellness?

Workplace wellness refers to the education and activities that a worksite may do to promote healthy lifestyles for employees and their families. Examples of wellness initiatives include such things as health education classes, subsidized use of fitness facilities, internal policies that promote healthy behavior, and any other activities, policies or environmental changes that affect the health of employees.

Why Workplace Wellness?

It affects your company’s bottom line in many ways. Namely, workplace wellness can lower health care costs, increase productivity, decrease absenteeism and raise employee morale. Because employees spend many of their waking hours at work, the workplace is an ideal setting to address health and wellness issues.

Wellness programs help control costs. Health care costs are a significant portion of a company’s budget, so strategically targeting this expense can significantly benefit an employer’s bottom line. An investment in your employees’ health may lower health care costs or slow the cost increases. Employees with more health risk factors, including being overweight, smoking and having diabetes, cost more to insure and pay more for health care than people with fewer risk factors. A wellness program can help employees with high risk factors make lifestyle changes to improve their quality of life and lower costs, while also helping employees with fewer risk factors remain healthy.

Healthier employees are more productive. Research shows that workplaces with wellness programs have employees who are more productive at work.

Healthier employees miss less work. Healthier employees mean fewer sick days, which is another benefit companies generally achieve through wellness programs. Plus, employees’ healthier behavior may translate into better family choices, so employees may also miss less work caring for ill family members. Reduced absenteeism can yield significant cost savings and return on your wellness investment.

Wellness programs can reduce workers’ compensation and disability costs. Employees who make healthy changes and lower health risk factors often have a lower chance of a workplace injury or illness or a disability. In both cases, this can save the employer money, not just on insurance premiums and benefits paid out, but also the replacement cost of recruiting and training a new worker to replace one out of work for health reasons.

Wellness can yield higher morale and improve recruiting. A company that cares about its employees’ health is often seen as a better place to work and wellness programs can attract top talent in a competitive market. In addition, expressing a commitment to your employees’ health can improve employee morale and strengthen retention. Employees can experience many potential benefits after joining a wellness program, including:

  • Increased well-being, self-image and self-esteem
  • Improved coping skills with stress or other health factors
  • Reduced risk for developing chronic or life threatening conditions
  • Easier access to health improvement programs and convenience can increase motivation to improve health
  • Improved overall health
  • Lower costs for health care (fewer doctor visits, perhaps lower premiums, less need for expensive care, etc.)
  • Access to needed social support, as coworkers strive toward healthier lifestyles as well
  • Improved job satisfactions
  • Safer and more productive work environment

Employees who experience these positive changes and benefits will often feel more loyalty to the company and grateful for the company’s commitment to their health.

Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement & Modernization Act

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) created a voluntary prescription drug program for Medicare Part D eligible individuals.

Under the MMA, group health plans — or entities that offer prescription drug coverage on a group basis to active and retired employees and to Medicare Part D eligible individuals — must provide, or arrange to provide, a notice of creditable or non-creditable prescription drug coverage.

This notify MUST be provided to those eligible individuals no later than OCTOBER 14, 2011.  For more information and a sample Creditable Coverage Disclosure Letter please click here.

Verification of eligibility for exchange coverage subsidies delayed

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires each state to have a competitive marketplace, known as an Affordable Health Insurance Exchange (Exchange), for individuals and small businesses to purchase private health insurance. All Exchanges will launch open enrollment in October 2013 with coverage becoming effective as early as Jan. 1, 2014.
On July 5, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a final rule addressing verification of eligibility for Exchange coverage subsidies. In the final rule, HHS announced that Exchanges will not be required to perform comprehensive verifications of income or eligibility for employer-sponsored coverage. Instead, the rules provide that:
• Exchanges can verify income eligibility on a random basis in 2014; and
• State-based Exchanges will not be required to perform random verification of employer-sponsored coverage until 2015.

BACKGROUND

States have a few options available to them with respect to the establishment of their Exchanges. A state may:
• Create and operate its own state-based Exchange;
• Have HHS operate the federally-facilitated Exchange (FFE) for its residents; or
• Partner with HHS so that the state is involved with the operation of the FFE.
For 2014, 17 states and the District of Columbia have been cond itionally approved to operate their own state-based Exchanges, seven states have been conditionally approved for partnership Exchanges, and 26 states have opted to have HHS run the Exchange in their state. See the chart on Page 3 for information on each state’s Ex-change decision.

Health Insurance Subsidies

Beginning in 2014, federal subsidies will be available to help individuals purchase health insurance through an Exchange. The subsidies are designed to make coverage through an Exchange more affordable by reducing out-of-pocket health care costs. There are two federal health insurance subsidies available: premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions. Premium tax credits are available for individuals with income of between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty line (FPL). Reduced cost-sharing is available for individuals with lower incomes (up to 250 percent of FPL).
To be eligible for the subsidies, a taxpayer:
• Must have household income for the year within the limits described above;
• May not be claimed as a tax dependent of another taxpayer; and
• Must file a joint return, if married.