-
Organizations LeveragingWellness Best Practices SeeSlower
Medical Cost GrowthRates
Do employee health management programsreally work? A new
reportfrom HERO and Mercer that is based ondata from the HERO
Employee HealthManagement Best Practices Scorecard shares
theresults of six studies that were conducted over thepast two
years, providing evidence that workplacewellness programs can work
if they are welldesigned and well executed. More specifically,
thestudies noted in the report show companies withprograms
incorporating the most evidence-basedbest practices saw slower
growth in medical costsover a three-year period than companies
withprograms using fewer best practices. Other studiesin the report
point to specific practices or strategiesthat support the
effectiveness of wellness programs,such as having a formal
strategic plan, companyleaders who actively participate in
programs, and avolunteer network of wellness champions toprovide
peer support for wellness initiatives.
The HERO Scorecard provides valuable insight forindividual
companies on how their wellness effortscompare to other companies
of their size andindustry, while providing a unique view of
whatshappening across a broad range of employerorganizations, said
Jerry Noyce, president andCEO of HERO. Weve learned a great deal
aboutwellness trends from Scorecard data over the years,and this
report gives us a snapshot of whatshappening with employee wellness
programs andwhats working.
Studies in the report are based on analyses ofemployer data
collected through the HEROScorecard, which is the nations leading
free, onlinetool that allows employers to evaluate theiremployee
health management efforts and tobenchmark their program and
outcomes againstcompanies of similar sizes and industries. In
theprocess, HERO and Mercer have gained insight intoemployer
wellness trends and health managementbest practices.
Over 1,200 employers completed Version 3 of theScorecard through
2013, and five of the studies relyon these data. The report also
includes earlyfindings from Version 4, which was released in
June2014, and has been completed by over 150employers.
Industry experts have long believed that healthimprovement is
accomplished through strong lead-ership and workplace culture. And
research such asthe analyses featured in the Scorecard
annualreport, continue to reinforce this belief, said
StevenNoeldner, PhD, Mercer partner and chair of theHERO Research
Study Subcommittee. Datacontinues to show that the most effective
wellness
APRIL 2015: Organizations Leveraging Wellness Best
Practices See Slower Medical Cost GrowthRates
Financial Incentives Key to Effective WellnessPrograms
Employers Expect Changes to EmployeeHealth Care Programs to
RetainCompetitiveness
This newsletter is for informational purposes only and should
not be considered as legal advice.
Executive Perspectives
P.O. Box 8382-4 Main Street
Peterborough, NH 03458Toll Free: 800-258-5318 Phone:
603-924-9449 Fax: 603-924-4490
-
programs are those that combine strategies whichencourage people
to take the first step towardimproving health, along with the
cultural andleadership support to make those positive
changeslast.
Other highlights from the current report, whichincludes data
from both 2013 and 2014 analysesinclude:
36 percent of employers allow employees totake time away from
work during the day forphysical activity
28 percent of employers allow employees totake time during the
workday to reduce stress
60 percent of employers make healthy foodchoices available in
the workplace
57 percent of employers have implementedtobacco-free workplace
policies
46 percent of employers use tracking devicesand wearables, such
as pedometers,glucometers and automated scales (used fortransmit
biometric data directly to a datarepository for people with
congestive heartfailure, obesity and/or diabetes)
39 percent of employers enable employees toengage with the
workplace wellness program viatheir smartphone or mobile device
44 percent of employers use some sort of socialmedia or social
challenge to increaseengagement and participation.
________________________________________
Financial Incentives Key toEffective Wellness Programs
F inancial incentives appear to be a crucialfactor in bringing
unhealthy workers intoworkplace wellness programs, according toa
new analysis by the nonpartisanEmployee Benefit Research Institute
(EBRI).
Using administrative data from a large employer thatprovided
anonymous participant information, EBRIanalyzed the impact that
financial incentives had onthe first-time participants in the
employers wellnessprograms.
Specifically, EBRI looked at those who completed ahealth risk
assessment (HRA) or biometricscreening in the two or three years
after financialincentives were offered to workers to
participate.
Our findings paint a vivid picture of who respondsto
wellness-program financial incentives. Theyindicate incentives have
a strong impact at bringingin the kind of people who really need
the program,said Paul Fronstin, director of EBRIs HealthResearch
and Education Program, and co-author ofthe report.
Among the reports findings:
DemographicsOlder men were most likely torespond to incentives.
Among employees whofirst completed an HRA post-incentive,
82.4percent were male versus 70.2 percentpre-incentive, and the
gender comparison wassimilar for biometric screenings. Late
adoptersalso tended to be older: Among those firstcompleting an HRA
post-incentive, the meanage was 50.0 compared with 45.0 among
thepre-incentive group. For biometric screenings,the average age
was 48.7 versus 46.4 for thepost- and pre-incentive cohorts,
respectively.
Health StatusIn general, individuals who firstcompleted the
wellness programs during thepostincentive period were less healthy
than earlyadopters. Moreover, prevalence rates ofdiabetes, high
blood pressure and highcholesterol were all higher in the
post-incentivegroups than in the pre-incentive groups.
AWANE April 2015
Executive Perspectives Page 2
Our findings paint a vivid picture of whoresponds to
wellness-program financial
incentives. They indicate incentiveshave a strong impact at
bringing in the
kind of people who really need theprogram.
-
Health-Services UtilizationVisits tospecialists were higher for
the post-incentivecohorts. Prescription drug utilization was
higheras well among post-incentive HRA completers(17.0 fills per
year) compared with pre-incentiveHRA completers (14.2 fills per
year), and alsogreater for post-incentive biometric
screeningcompleters. In large part, individuals who firstcompleted
HRA and biometric screenings afterthe financial incentives were
introduced wereless likely to consume preventive care, and theywere
less likely to have visited a primary careprovider.
Health RisksIndividuals who first completedthe HRA
post-incentive had greater health riskthan those first completing
it pre-incentive.Employees first completing the HRApost-incentive
were more likely than thosecompleting it pre-incentive to be at
risk for bloodpressure, exercise, glucose, nutrition, smoking,and
weight.
BiometricsLate adopters of biometricscreening also had worse
biometric values. Overone-third (35.2 percent) of
post-incentivebiometric screening completers was obesecompared with
about one-quarter (26.3 percent)of pre-incentive completers.
Further, 50.3percent of post-incentive biometric
screeningcompleters were pre-hypertensive, compared to45.8 percent
of early adopters.
________________________________________
Employers Expect Changesto Employee Health CarePrograms to
RetainCompetitiveness
The majority of U.S. employers (84%) areexpecting to make
changes to their full-timeemployee health benefit programs over
thenext three years, despite cost increasesremaining at
historically low levels, according to newresearch from global
professional services companyTowers Watson. In addition to
aggressive costmanagement, employers are evaluating theimplications
of the changing provider landscape,embracing new ways to deliver
care through
innovative network arrangements, focusing onincreasing employee
engagement and exploringnew options for delivering benefits.
The 2015 Emerging Trends in Health Care Surveyfound that
employers project health care costs toincrease 4% in 2015 after
plan changes, comparedto the 4.5% employers predicted for 2014.
Withoutplan changes, projections are for an increase of5.2%. These
modest increases are still more thandouble the current rate of
inflation and are a primaryfactor driving employers affordability
concerns asthe 2018 excise tax in the Patient Protection
andAffordable Care Act approaches. Two in fiveemployers that have
done extensive modeling oftheir plans say they will trigger the
excise tax in2018. Two-thirds say the tax will have an impact
ontheir health program strategies.
Historically, employers have strived to keep theircost increases
at the market average, butincreasingly, this just isnt enough, said
RandallAbbott, a senior consulting leader at TowersWatson. The new
focus is on reducing cost trendsto the overall CPI or below. This
means driving costgrowth to roughly 2% or less, which requires
anacute focus on all aspects of health planperformance. In addition
to solving the rate of costtrend, employers must pay attention to
the basecost. We are seeing a wide variation across andwithin
industries even after adjusting for uniquegroup characteristics.
High-performance health carehas become the new mantra emphasizing
not justreducing costs but improving workforce health,better
engaging employees and leveraging newhealth technologies, he
added.
AWANE April 2015
Executive Perspectives Page 3
-
Managing Costs by Addressing ProgramParticipation
Among the actions gaining traction are changes tobenefits for
spouses and dependents. For example,the percentage of employers
using spousalsurcharges (when coverage is available elsewhere)is
expected to nearly double, from 32% now to 61%in three years. Half
of respondents (53%) plan tosignificantly reduce subsidies for
spouses anddependents by 2018. In addition, four in 10employers
(41%) say they may adopt a definedcontribution arrangement (capping
employercontributions at a flat dollar amount) by 2018.
Seeking Sources of Measurable Added Value
Employers reported greater resolve to improvehealth outcomes per
dollar spent, with two-thirdsplanning to use data extensively to
evaluate planperformance and employee behavior changes inlifestyle
and health management. In addition, theuse of centers of excellence
(either within healthplans or via a separate network) and narrow
net-works are expected to triple over the next threeyears. The use
of telemedicine services in place ofin-person physician visits,
when appropriate, willcontinue to be rapidly adopted, already
expandingby more than one-third (35%) in 2015 over 2014.Over 80% of
employers say they could be offeringtelemedicine services by
2018.
Over the next few years, more than 80% ofemployers will
carefully evaluate specialty pharmacyprograms and benefits embedded
in their medicalplans. Over half (61%) of employers report
includingcoverage and utilization restrictions in their
specialtypharmacy strategy today.
Increasing Employee Engagement
Employers recognize the business value of ahealthy workforce and
are encouraging employeesto take control of their health. Two of
the top fiveareas employers say will be the focus of their
healthcare activities in 2016 link to employee engagementand
accountability: developing or enhancing aworkplace culture where
employees are responsiblefor their health (66%), and adopting or
expandingthe use of financial incentives to encourage
healthybehaviors (51%).
Among employers surveyed, the most populartactics for boosting
employee engagement in healthcare are:
Education and tools for better decisionmaking. Nearly half of
employers (48%) willplace more emphasis on educating employeesabout
how to select providers based on qualityand cost information over
the next two years. In2016, 43% of employers will provide price
andquality transparency tools to help employeesmake better consumer
choices.
Mobile apps to deliver healthmessages. Today, 60% of employers
deliverhealth and wellness messages through mobileapps and portals.
That percentage will increaseto 95% by 2018.
Account-based health plans (ABHPs) as theonly plan option. While
17% of employerscurrently offer full-replacement ABHPs
(high-deductible plans tied to tax-advantaged healthsavings
accounts), the percentage may increaseto nearly 50% by 2018.
AWANE April 2015
Executive Perspectives Page 4
Employers recognize the businessvalue of a healthy workforce and
are
encouraging employees to take controlof their health. Two of the
top five areasemployers say will be the focus of their
health care activities in 2016 link toemployee engagement
and
accountability.
