Use Your Insurance Incentives

Building a workplace wellness program is an investment. It is going to cost you a little bit up front if you are going to get it right and have it work to your advantage and to the advantage of your employees. One way to offset the costs of building a workplace wellness program is to use the incentive programs your insurance already has in place to motivate employees to levels of greater health and health awareness.

Insurance companies are also facing higher costs and lower profit margins because of the number of people who are no longer purchasing insurance. They are trying to lower the cost of insurance so more people can afford to purchase it. One way they are going about it is to offer group plan member certain incentives if they are focused on health related goals. Incentive programs include wellness markers incentives, smoking cessation incentives, preventive care incentives, disease control incentives, and weight management incentives. Here's how to build your workplace wellness program around the incentives being offered by insurance providers.

1. Weight Management and Weight Loss

One of the major focuses of your workplace wellness program should be weight control and weight loss. This includes healthy diet and nutrition, fitness and exercise, and healthy lifestyle choices. One of the biggest returns on investments you can get is by subsidizing the costs of weight management programs such as Weight Watchers, or by subsidizing gym memberships.

Some insurance providers offer weight management incentives that include paying the fees for weight management programs or gym memberships for employees who go to the gym three times a week or more. If you use your insurance providers' incentives already available, you are saving your company the cost of subsidization, while still reaping the rewards of having thinner, healthier employees with higher self-esteem.

2. Wellness Factor Incentives

The biggest hurtle most companies face in building a workplace wellness program is gaining employee awareness and involvement in the program. People don't realize or care how unhealthy they are until it is going to cost them something to remain in their current state.

In steps your insurance provider. Most insurance providers today will either penalize those who don't meet certain wellness factors or give discounts to those who do. Either way it will bring your employees' awareness to their health around and get them to participate in your workplace wellness program while your insurance provider pays for the health screenings that will help your employees see just what their health situation is.

3. Smoking Cessation Incentives

One of the hardest addictions your employees may have to overcome to reach your workplace wellness goals is to quit smoking. It is a rough road and can be very expensive if an employee decides to do it on their own.

Let your insurance provider foot most of the bill through their smoking cessation incentives. Some health insurance providers will pay for a smoking cessation analysis, program, and smoking replacements products for employees who are committed to stop smoking. You get the return on the investment and so does your insurance provider, but you save.

The returns you will receive over the years of paying for employee insurance will be greater than the upfront extra cost you will receive by choosing an insurance provider who offers these types of incentives you can build your workplace wellness program around.