Workplace Wellness Programs: The Bottom-Line Booster

Workplace Wellness Programs are proven to improve productivity and lower medical care costs.  For a business, that makes a difference in the bottom-line. Today, more than 81 percent of America’s businesses with 50 or more workers have some form of Workplace Wellness Program with the most popular being exercise, tobaccos cessation classes, back care programs, and stress management. Most companies offer Workplace Wellness Programs simply because they think the benefit is worth the cost. Yet business leaders continue to ask themselves how to control huge annual increases in health insurance premiums and medical care costs. 

For many businesses, health costs can consume half of organization profits or more. Some employer’s look to cost sharing, cost shifting, managed care plans, risk rating, and cash-based rebates or rewards. But these methods merely shift costs. Only Workplace Wellness Programs stand out as the long-term answer for keeping workers well in the first place. 

Workplace Wellness Programs are an example of medical care reform that works. Results from America’s finest businesses, summarized here, are reason enough to consider providing Workplace Wellness Programs.  This investment in your most important asset – your workers – can have a positive impact on your bottom-line. 

Workplace Wellness Program Statistics: 

Providence Everett Medical Center, a member of the WELCOA, in Everett, Washington, saved an estimated 3 million or a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 3.8 over 9 years of an outcomes-based Workplace Wellness Program. By providing financial rewards ($250 – $325) to workers who meet specific organizational and worker health initiatives the Workplace Wellness Program continues to meet cost containment expectations in the area of medical care use, sick time, injuries, while improving health habits and self-care practices.  

During the first 4 years of the Workplace Wellness Program there was a 28 percent average reduction in medical care utilization compared to nine other Providence hospitals that were used as a control group.  

Du Pont saw that every dollar invested in their Workplace Wellness Program returned $1.42 over two years in lower rates of absenteeism costs at Du Pont Co. (Well worksite Gold in Delaware). Absences from illness unrelated to the job among 45,000 blue-collar employees dropped 14 percent at 41 industrial sites where the Workplace Wellness Program was offered, compared with a 5.8 percent decline at 19 sites where it was not.  

The Travelers Corporation claims a $3.40 return for every dollar invested Workplace Wellness Programs, yielding total organization savings of $146 million in benefits costs. Sick leave was lowered 19 percent during the four-year study. In addition to improving the overall health of 36,000 workers and retirees by decreasing poor health habits and increasing good ones, The Travelers realized cost savings by decreasing the number of unnecessary visits to a doctor and emergency rooms. In a similar but smaller study, members of a Travelers fitness center Workplace Wellness Program were absent from work significantly fewer days than non-members.  

The Workplace Wellness Program at Reynolds Electrical & Engineering Company, located in Las Vegas, cost $76.24 per worker during the two years it has been in operation. Over half of the 1,600 workers participated in the Workplace Wellness Program. Participants significantly lowered cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and weight and experienced 21 percent lower lifestyle-related claim costs than non-participant. Resulting savings: $127.89 per participant in the Workplace Wellness Program with a benefit to cost ratio of 1.68 to 1. 

Superior Coffee and Foods, a Bensenville, Illinois-based subsidiary of Sara Lee Corporation, attributes impressive results to the success of the company’s comprehensive Workplace Wellness Program. Superior showed 22 percent fewer admissions to a hospital, 29 percent shorter hospital stays, and 42 percent lower expenses per admission when comparing costs for this division’s 1,200 workers with costs for other divisions. Long-term disability costs were down by 40 percent. 

With health costs per worker at $6,000, nearly twice the national average, Union Pacific Railroad introduced their Workplace Wellness Program to its 28,000 workers, mostly union and blue collar, in 19 Western and Southern states. Beginning with a modest health self-care initiative at an annual cost of $50 per person, the Workplace Wellness Program achieved a net savings of $1.26 million. In addition, a voluntary Workplace Wellness Program to help workers decrease health risks projected a cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.57 after one year. Workers in a treatment group decreaseed their risk of high blood pressure (45 percent) and high cholesterol (34 percent); others moved out of the at-risk range for weight problems (30 percent); and 21 percent stopped using tobacco.  

Average health costs of high-risk Steelcase workers- those whose lifestyles include two to four health risks such as tobacco use, little exercise, overweight- are 75 percent higher than those of low-risk workers. But high-risk workers at this Grand Rapids, Michigan-furniture manufacturing company who enhanced their health habits through the company’s Workplace Wellness Program and became low risk cut their average health claims in half thus lowering their health insurance costs by an average of $618 per year. If all high-risk workers (20 percent of the total worker population) in one location changed their lifestyles to become low risk, the projected savings could total $20 million over three years.  

Workers at Berk-Tec, a small manufacturing company in Lancaster County Pennsylvania, learned self-care techniques and decreaseed their company’s medical care costs in one year. By using a self-care guide, the 938 workers and their family members made smart health decisions and saved $21.67 per employee and dependent a nearly 18 percent reduction in costs. By combining reductions in doctor visits and emergency room use, the business saved $39.06 per employee a 24.3 percent decrease in costs over the previous year.  

A health claims-based study of 72,000 people insured through 285 Wisconsin school districts found a lower demand for health services among those with access to Workplace Wellness Programs and self-care programs. Reductions in health services results in savings for the Wisconsin Education Insurance Group of as much as $4.75 for each $1 spent, higher savings were found in the group receiving access to a 24-hour phone-based nurse advice line, a self-care reference book, and health education materials.  

CIGNA’s Healthy Babies prenatal Workplace Wellness Program delivered an average savings of $5,000 per birth by providing expectant mothers with educational materials and rewarding early and regular prenatal care. And 80 percent of participants had normal births without complications compared with 50 percent for non-participant.  

With savings estimated to be as high as $8 million, the California Public Workers’ Retirement System sent its 55,000 retirees a health risk appraisal followed, in some cases, with individualized reports and letters and self-care materials to encourage change and help reduce health risks among retirees and at the same time reduce the medical care claim costs. In another study, Bank of America retirees in California who chose the full Workplace Wellness Program and demand reduction program showed a decrease in total direct and indirect costs of 11 percent compared with a rise of 6.3 percent for those who completed only a simple health questionnaire.  

With lower medical care claims, health costs decreased 16 percent for staff members in the City of Mesa (Arizona) who participated in the comprehensive Workplace Wellness Program. The city realized a return of $3.60 for every dollar invested in the wellnss program for the city staff members.  

To prevent back injuries among its staff members, a county in California targeted white- and blue-collar employees, offered classes and fitness training. As a result, there was a significant rise in worker morale, lowered worker’s comp claims, health costs and sick days related to back injuries producing a net cost-benefit ratio of 1 to 1.79. 

Workplace Wellness Programs: Savings 

Workplace Wellness Programs offer Long-Term Savings 

Workplace Wellness Programs, according to an article in Crain’s Detroit Business, come in two varieties:  Workplace Wellness Programs or Medical Insurance products that aim to reduce costs if healthy habits are followed.  Both options are a good choice, but only one will really offer long-term health benefits for your staff members and reduce costs over the years. 

Workplace Wellness Programs offer Assistance 

Insurance-based products offer staff members the opportunity, according to the article by Jay Green, to save money on their premiums if they follow certain steps, including performing an internet-based health assessment, visiting their physician, and agree to adopt a healthy lifestyle.  These plans usually involve one coach call to the worker during the first 90 days.  We wonder if these brief wellness encounters will actually change a individual’s lifestyle. 

It is the overall change in a individual’s lifestyle, as well as disease prevention that will lead to reduce medical cots in the future. 

Workplace Wellness Programs offer convenient Health Risk Assessments / Health Risk Appraisals and screening tests for things like diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure.  As the article states, these have initial start-up costs, but the savings accrue over time and staff members are more likely to stay active in an workplace worker Wellness Program. 

Workplace Wellness Programs Get Results 

Finally, the article states that businesses with an effective Workplace Wellness Program can expect to see “500 percent reduce absenteeism, 400 percent fewer disability claims, and 350 percent reduce medical care costs.”  These are numbers that are very hard to argue with.