HJBR Nov/Dec 2019

Wellness Programs 32 NOV / DEC 2019 I  Healthcare Journal of baton rouge   Diseases such as diabetes and cancer are major cost drivers within a group health insurance plan. It is well known that when cancer is detected in its early stages, the sur- vival rate increases, and the insurance paid by employers for medical care is less costly. For the sake of this article, we will remove the emotional human element and focus more on the financial side of medical care. According to a study by the World Health Organization, cancer treatments for patients with early diagnoses are estimated to be one half to one quarter of the expense, compared to treatments for patients with advanced stages of cancer. 2 Thus, early detection is key to preventing highmedical claim costs. Keepingmedical claimcosts low on a group health insurance plan is essential to keeping the premiums low and making the health plan sustainable for an employer. Therefore, one of the main concepts of an employer sponsored wellness program is to identify major health cost drivers early, thus saving money and lives. Wellness programs were created tomake employees happier, and to improve employ- ees’ health. Within a wellness program, there are at least four ways a company can attempt to improve their employees’health. First, wellness programs provide an incentive for employees to get a wellness exam from their primary care physician exercise, healthy diet, and smoking ces- sation through regular communication with employees. Many wellness programs include communications through email, cell phone apps, flyers, and text messages. Employees who exercise, eat right, and do not smoke tend to live healthy lives well past retirement age.  3 Third, wellness programs are designed to reduce stress by promoting amore engaging workplace and educating employees about better practices such as managing personal finances, choosing a better diet, and exercis- ingmore often. Employees with lower stress levels are happier and healthier. Fourth, wellness programs can offer a plethora of other options that will benefit the employee. Examples include discounted gym memberships, free counseling, group exercise activities, and social responsibil- ity activities. Now that we have a better understand- ing of wellness programs, the question remains—do employer sponsored wellness programs reduce costs? Many reports say they do not. The determination of whether or not wellness programs produce savings for employers is based on two principles: employee bias and statistics.  Employee bias is based on the idea that wellness programs only appeal to those employees who are interested in personal once a year. Some employers offer spe- cial gifts or financial reimbursement on the employee’s paycheck, while other employers are making wellness exams mandatory. The sole purpose of the annual wellness exam is for the employee to be evaluated by their primary care physician. The annual exam includes checking the employee’s blood pressure. Checking blood pressure is a relatively simple procedure, however, it is essential to ruling out hypertension. In the event an employee does not have an annual checkup, and happens to have hypertension, the employee’s condition could lead to a stroke. A stroke can have negative conse- quences for the employee, whomay experi- ence major loss of motor functions, speech, sight, and other detrimental conditions. If an employee wellness program can pre- vent such a major loss of health and physi- cal well-being, the employee will benefit, as will the company, who will avoid a negative financial impact. Likewise, during the annual exam, the employee will have lab work done, and conditions such as high cholesterol, dia- betes, heart disease, and other health prob- lems can be detected. Early detection is key, and wellness programs remind employees about other preventive measures such as mammograms, colonoscopies, prostate exams, and immunizations. Second, wellness programs promote “The annual exam includes checking the employee’s blood pressure. Checking blood pressure is a relatively simple procedure, however, it is essential to ruling out hypertension.”