CEOs and Wellness

No matter what all is in the healthcare reform bill (and what it all means), the fact remains: Employers are still paying the bills. Today, the employers’ mind set is the same as it was before Reform: Squeeze the ‘livin ‘bejesus out of those healthcare costs.

After decades of monkeying around with various Plan Designs and Financing Schemes, CEOs and Business Owners may only have but one bullet left.

Even though most CEOs have been reluctant to use it, they’re now ready to unholster their Wellness Weapon....and they’re taking aim at their biggest (non-moving) target: My Big, FAT, Greek (and Irish, Indian, Italian, Mexican et al) Employees! (Yes, ALL of them!)

Intuitively, Wellness has long been in the CEO’s gut; on the back of their mind. Wellness has been in the Board Room; and on the drawing board. The Wellness Weapon remains locked, loaded and ready for bear, but only a few CEOs have pulled the trigger.

Fewer still have used The Wellness Weapon with any REAL bullets in it: i.e. Health Risk Assessments that ask questions like: Do you wear seatbelts? Do you smoke (not counting on the Golf Course or at Green Bay Packer Games)? Are you taller than your weight indicates?

And the answers from management were always, “That’s good…DON’T change any behavior because we don’t want The Smoker’s Rights Lobby stinking up our lobby and harassing HR!  And, Americans with Eating (Dorito) Disorders (AEDD) might drop a load of attorneys on our doorstep!  Besides, our employees will whine from Here to Payday if we even HINT about asking/begging/pleading with them to come in sober once in a while.”

Even though the original Wellness “Plans” had good intentions and a fairly strong business argument (including a decent ROI), Wellness was generally WAY watered down: A non invasive; toothless management tool that added cost of benefit plan without a lot of ROI. (Plus, healthcare was CHEAP back then = Wellness wasn’t worth the risk of upsetting the employees’ applecart. AND, there were a lot of Snake Oil Salesmen out there selling, well, Snake Oil! No WONDER the word Wellness was bad for the corporate health.)

It ALL may be changing as employers still find themselves completely surrounded by cost and competition…and, they’re down to their last bullet.

Dr. Troy Adams, COO of Wellsteps in Mapleton, Utah said, “Employers have 4 choices: Ignore it and go bankrupt; stop providing benefits; shift MORE cost to employees or, get serious about the underlying cost – which is Chronic Disease. And you solve that with lifestyle modification.”

Lifestyle modification? (GULP! That sounds worse than The Lifestyle Testing! The Boss won’t be making widgets anymore, they’ll be too busy being Nurse Ratchett with a ‘Pee Cup and Prod Bar = chasing employees around the office to get a sample and making sure they’re on their, “Lifestyle Modification Meds!”  OYE!)

“Health Police,” is what Associated Press coined for the CEOs new title: The AP said employers are becoming more aggressive in their quest to control cost.

Health Police are on the beat everywhere. According to Jim Golumbeski, Executive Director of Workforce Development in Green Bay, Wisconsin, “Employers are testing job applicants on their skills but hiring them on their principals. Lifestyle health issues are a big part of those principals.”

Golembeski said employers are fully aware that unhealthy principals continue to cost them, and they’re starting to become more aggressive. “Healthy lifestyles have a huge impact on everything: attendance, safety, workers comp…the bottom line.”

Last month, The Nicolet Bank Business Pulse – a study of 500 CEOs and Business Leaders in Wisconsin - reported that 12.3% of the CEOs are going to become Much More Aggressive in the cost control quest; 35.3% said they will be Somewhat More Aggressive.

According to a 2009 AON study, 50% of their clients already offer both an HRA and biometric screenings. In 2010, 20% are planning to implement HRAs; 16% are planning biometric screenings. 45.6% of the CEOs in The Nicolet Bank Business Pulse said they offer a Wellness Program.

Employers are offering wellness and disease management initiatives to improve cost trend. And this year (or perhaps later), 79 percent are planning to promote exercise/physical activity initiatives. Employers are also tracking the status of their wellness or disease management programs. AON listed the top measures they track:

Medical costs of chronic conditions =4 5%
Participation in corporate wellness/preventive activities = 36%
Participation in corporate disease management programs =32%
Biometric data = 28%

According to AON, “The overwhelming majority is still not tracking the indirect affect of chronic conditions: Only 10% track measures of presenteeism; 13% track the absence costs of chronic conditions."

Sandy Mathy, president of @butlerandco.com – a healthcare consultancy said, "Employers who know the impact of chronic disease can make greater improvements to their program, lower risk factors and build a healthy, productive team. If you do it right, Wellness will reduce trend, Presenteeism, absence from work and the incidence – even the duration - of disability."  DUH!

ObamaCare, reportedly, has $200 million in Wellness Grants for small employers. “That works out to just under five bucks for each of the 41.8 million workers in the firms with fewer than 100 employees. By contrast, the federal bank bail-out cost U.S. taxpayers about $18,000 for the same group of workers,” said Dr. Adams. “Real Healthcare reform must get to the root of the problem – unhealthy behaviors. And more of the money that will be removed from the wallet of taxpayers should be allocated to solutions that will actually make a difference, such as chronic disease prevention.”

How the Survey is Conducted

The Nicolet Bank Business Pulse© is a Quarterly Study of CEOs and business leaders in the NewNorth Wisconsin (Brown, Calumet, Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano, Winnebago Counties) and Menominee, Michigan. It is designed and implemented by IntellectualMarketing, LLC.  The survey, conducted between February 22 and March 1, 2010.  Participants include: 27% in manufacturing; 26% in services; 17% retail trade; 4% wholesale trade; 6% finance, real estate, insurance; 5% in transportation, communications, utilities; 6% in construction; 9% in other industries.  23% have fewer than 6 employees; 30% have 6-25; 8% have 26-50; 13% 51-100; 13% 101-250; 7% 251-500; 2% 501-1,000; 5% have 1,001 or more.

Questions to Dr. David G. Wegge (920) 217-7738;  david@intellectualmarketing.com