Encouraging Results of Incentive-based Health Insurance Plans
Wellness pays as health costs shift
Consumer-directed insurance plans use education, rewards to change lifestyles
By Ann Meyer
Special to the Chicago Tribune
Published June 12, 2006
Pedometers, workouts and wellness points are the topics of casual lunchtime conversations at the DuPage Credit Union in Naperville now that the company offers a consumer-directed health insurance plan that rewards employees for healthy behavior, the company said.
"I'm watching team members come together and really motivate one another to be more healthy individuals," said Lori Mecca McGrath, human resources manager.
The wellness focus has been building since October 2004, when the credit union nixed the standard PPO plan it had offered for years in favor of a lesser-known, $1,000-deductible consumer-directed health plan with lower premiums and a health reimbursement arrangement to which the company contributes $600 per employee, she said. If workers don't spend the $600, it is theirs to keep, McGrath said.
Besides encouraging employees to spend wisely, the company's new plan from Destiny Health rewards employees with "Vitality Bucks" for engaging in health-oriented activities such as health screenings, fitness workouts and smoking-cessation programs. Bucks can be exchanged for merchandise.
"It gives you an impetus to pay a little more attention to your health care," McGrath said.
While many businesses are turning to high-deductible health plans to curb double-digit premium increases, experts say the plans must encourage healthier lifestyles for them to be effective long term.
"Without that component of prevention it's more of a short-term savings than long term," said Kenneth Olson, president of Horton Benefit Solutions in Orland Park.
By encouraging workers to control behavior that otherwise can lead to expensive health care, a company also can control its premium increases, Olson said. In the past couple of years, he said, companies are beginning to see a greater spread between premiums of standard PPO plans and those of consumer-directed plans.
"This is very encouraging," he said.
But encouraging workers to change their habits requires a major educational push, and many small businesses simply do not have the resources to deliver it themselves.
The wellness concept makes sense to David Johnson, director of human resources at Beckett Associates, a Bedford Park distributor of trading cards and collectibles that gives its 140 employees a choice of three Blue Cross plans: a PPO, HMO or high-deductible plan tied with a health savings account.
"A healthy workforce is a reliable, dependable workforce," Johnson said. "We're looking for people able to come to work not encumbered by maladies and diseases. You want people to feel well and to be healthy."
While some of the company's workers play basketball or soccer on their lunch breaks, to administer its own full-blown wellness program with something for everyone would be too big a task, Johnson said. So the company is considering adding a program administered by Blue Cross.
Blue Cross offers Blue Care Connection, with an online personal health manager who provides guidance on exercise and nutrition based on members' personal data and goals, said Debbie Halan, senior manager of product management. Members start by taking the Mayo Clinic health risk assessment online.
From their answers the online program provides advice on eating healthier, setting up an exercise program and sticking with it.
Members report their progress daily and are sent reminders to encourage follow-through.
"If you didn't walk your mile today, it's like having a personal trainer there reminding you," Halan said.
Another component provides information about treatment costs and hospital comparisons. Members with questions about a condition or treatment can contact a Blue Cross nurse for additional guidance.
Besides concerns about escalating health-care costs, more companies are embracing wellness programs to keep their workers healthy and productive, said Kirk Pion, director of strategy innovation and delivery at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois.
"It's a bottom-line savings," Pion said.
Meantime, Humana Inc. offers several consumer-directed health plans and is slated to roll out its Virgin Life Care wellness offering in the Chicago market by 2007, said David Reynolds, vice president of sales for Humana in Illinois. That plan, available in several other markets, rewards members with HealthMiles for exercising, tracking blood pressure, body fat and weight, and achieving health and fitness goals. Reward points can be redeemed at stores like Best Buy, Home Depot and Target
Currently, Humana has 421,000 members in its consumer-directed plans, representing about 13 percent of its total membership. But Reynolds noted that the Chicago market has not been as quick to embrace them as other areas of the country.
"In Chicago, there's a great HMO presence and an industrial economy. There's a history of offering very rich benefits," he said. "We're having to open people's eyes to new possibilities."
But education will gradually change that, Reynolds said.
"What really helps is once people get into these plans and start to see the behavior change, it changes the claims trend," he said.
By encouraging employees to use more preventive health services, they often need fewer after-the-fact interventions like hospital stays, according to Humana's three-year study of 155 companies representing 13,000 consumers.
The study indicates customers using Humana's consumer-directed health plans saw annual claims-cost increases of between 5 percent and 6 percent, compared with double-digit increases in other plans in recent years.
Most savings came from changes in behavior instead of shifting costs, as many consumers used preventive services and avoided the need for hospital stays, the company said.
Meantime, Destiny Health recently reported disappointing financial results for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2005, stemming in part from trouble gaining traction in the Chicago market.
Still, Destiny is considered a leader in the area of incentives, and many other insurers are taking note of its Vitality rewards program, particularly as it contributes to smaller premium increases. Destiny offers discounts on premiums when employer groups achieve certain goals, said Patty Peterson, vice president of marketing.
"Long term, the healthier people get, the better health-care costs will be in check," Peterson said. "It's better for the system and the small employer."
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Consumer-directed insurance plans use education, rewards to change lifestyles
By Ann Meyer
Special to the Chicago Tribune
Published June 12, 2006
Pedometers, workouts and wellness points are the topics of casual lunchtime conversations at the DuPage Credit Union in Naperville now that the company offers a consumer-directed health insurance plan that rewards employees for healthy behavior, the company said.
"I'm watching team members come together and really motivate one another to be more healthy individuals," said Lori Mecca McGrath, human resources manager.
The wellness focus has been building since October 2004, when the credit union nixed the standard PPO plan it had offered for years in favor of a lesser-known, $1,000-deductible consumer-directed health plan with lower premiums and a health reimbursement arrangement to which the company contributes $600 per employee, she said. If workers don't spend the $600, it is theirs to keep, McGrath said.
Besides encouraging employees to spend wisely, the company's new plan from Destiny Health rewards employees with "Vitality Bucks" for engaging in health-oriented activities such as health screenings, fitness workouts and smoking-cessation programs. Bucks can be exchanged for merchandise.
"It gives you an impetus to pay a little more attention to your health care," McGrath said.
While many businesses are turning to high-deductible health plans to curb double-digit premium increases, experts say the plans must encourage healthier lifestyles for them to be effective long term.
"Without that component of prevention it's more of a short-term savings than long term," said Kenneth Olson, president of Horton Benefit Solutions in Orland Park.
By encouraging workers to control behavior that otherwise can lead to expensive health care, a company also can control its premium increases, Olson said. In the past couple of years, he said, companies are beginning to see a greater spread between premiums of standard PPO plans and those of consumer-directed plans.
"This is very encouraging," he said.
But encouraging workers to change their habits requires a major educational push, and many small businesses simply do not have the resources to deliver it themselves.
The wellness concept makes sense to David Johnson, director of human resources at Beckett Associates, a Bedford Park distributor of trading cards and collectibles that gives its 140 employees a choice of three Blue Cross plans: a PPO, HMO or high-deductible plan tied with a health savings account.
"A healthy workforce is a reliable, dependable workforce," Johnson said. "We're looking for people able to come to work not encumbered by maladies and diseases. You want people to feel well and to be healthy."
While some of the company's workers play basketball or soccer on their lunch breaks, to administer its own full-blown wellness program with something for everyone would be too big a task, Johnson said. So the company is considering adding a program administered by Blue Cross.
Blue Cross offers Blue Care Connection, with an online personal health manager who provides guidance on exercise and nutrition based on members' personal data and goals, said Debbie Halan, senior manager of product management. Members start by taking the Mayo Clinic health risk assessment online.
From their answers the online program provides advice on eating healthier, setting up an exercise program and sticking with it.
Members report their progress daily and are sent reminders to encourage follow-through.
"If you didn't walk your mile today, it's like having a personal trainer there reminding you," Halan said.
Another component provides information about treatment costs and hospital comparisons. Members with questions about a condition or treatment can contact a Blue Cross nurse for additional guidance.
Besides concerns about escalating health-care costs, more companies are embracing wellness programs to keep their workers healthy and productive, said Kirk Pion, director of strategy innovation and delivery at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois.
"It's a bottom-line savings," Pion said.
Meantime, Humana Inc. offers several consumer-directed health plans and is slated to roll out its Virgin Life Care wellness offering in the Chicago market by 2007, said David Reynolds, vice president of sales for Humana in Illinois. That plan, available in several other markets, rewards members with HealthMiles for exercising, tracking blood pressure, body fat and weight, and achieving health and fitness goals. Reward points can be redeemed at stores like Best Buy, Home Depot and Target
Currently, Humana has 421,000 members in its consumer-directed plans, representing about 13 percent of its total membership. But Reynolds noted that the Chicago market has not been as quick to embrace them as other areas of the country.
"In Chicago, there's a great HMO presence and an industrial economy. There's a history of offering very rich benefits," he said. "We're having to open people's eyes to new possibilities."
But education will gradually change that, Reynolds said.
"What really helps is once people get into these plans and start to see the behavior change, it changes the claims trend," he said.
By encouraging employees to use more preventive health services, they often need fewer after-the-fact interventions like hospital stays, according to Humana's three-year study of 155 companies representing 13,000 consumers.
The study indicates customers using Humana's consumer-directed health plans saw annual claims-cost increases of between 5 percent and 6 percent, compared with double-digit increases in other plans in recent years.
Most savings came from changes in behavior instead of shifting costs, as many consumers used preventive services and avoided the need for hospital stays, the company said.
Meantime, Destiny Health recently reported disappointing financial results for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2005, stemming in part from trouble gaining traction in the Chicago market.
Still, Destiny is considered a leader in the area of incentives, and many other insurers are taking note of its Vitality rewards program, particularly as it contributes to smaller premium increases. Destiny offers discounts on premiums when employer groups achieve certain goals, said Patty Peterson, vice president of marketing.
"Long term, the healthier people get, the better health-care costs will be in check," Peterson said. "It's better for the system and the small employer."
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
posted by Bob Coli, MD | 8:55 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home