Winston Salem WellnessWinston Salem Wellness – Winston Salem Health Promotion

It is apparent to virtually every American (especially those of us in business) that health care expenditures are skyrocketing out of control. No one doubts that either the market will solve the issue OR the government will impose one on us. Managed care has failed from either a cost containment or quality of care perspective. Organizations have reached the point where the cost of offering medical insurance is almost as burdensome as government regulation. It’s time for some new thinking on health care and its influence on business and vice versa. “Corporate wellness” as an operational perspective rather than merely window dressing is one way to deal effectively with rising health care expenditures.

The Insurance Delimma

The first step in correcting the concern is to realize that an employee’s health is their own responsibility. Expecting businesses to support unlimited healthcare insurance coverage is simply unrealistic and unreasonable. It’s time for businesses (on a broad scale) to reconsider their role in offering healthcare insurance coverage. Instead of offering complete coverage for all workers through group plans, businesses must begin to shift the burden of health coverage to those covered.

Here’s the approach. Give catastrophic health care insurance as a group benefit to all workers with a big enough deductible (say $5000 per employee) to make the cost affordable for the business. Then, allow workers to buy their own health care insurance policies (based on their own needs) and pay for them through payroll deduction with pre-tax earnings. There are numerous insurance corporations that sell individual plans on this basis. Everybody wins. Employees can tailor their coverage to their own needs and circumstances using their own doctors. Organizations win by stopping the endless cycle of rising expenditures and ever-changing plans. And when individuals become responsible for the cost of their own insurance, they become more attentive to their own health. Besides, if an employee is interested in working for you ONLY because your business offers great insurance benefits aren’t they telling you they’re going to cost you more money in the future?

Develop a “Wellness Culture”

Our current “sickness culture” perpetuates the health care crisis and hastens the demise of market-based solutions. By sickness culture, I mean our focus on health issues rather than on having a healthy worksite and performance culture.

So, what would a “wellness culture” look like? First, rather than paid sick days, employees might be rewarded at year’s end with an attendance bonus. Workers would be reimbursed for efficacious completion of smoking cessation and weight-loss programs. Organizations would invest in corporate memberships at local health clubs so every employee can take part. Workers would be provided in-house wellness programs on a variety of concerns ranging from ergonomics to stress management. Finally, corporations would commit to hiring and retaining healthy employees. Simply put, healthy employees cost less and are more advantageous than unhealthy ones. Applicants ought to be screened for health habits and practices that limit their productivity and improve the likelihood of future expense. While this may seem harsh, it rewards those employees whose personal lifestyle and habits make sure the best Return on Investment by the organization committing to hire, train and pay them.

Be open to “alternative and complementary” approaches

Research studies published in major medical journals reveal that people who use “alternative and complementary” health modalities (including chiropractic, acupuncture, yoga and massage) are generally healthier, better educated, take fewer medications and miss fewer days from work than the average American. Since these people look for ways to stay healthy without prescriptions and surgery, they end up being a net benefit in terms of attendance and work rate. Old prejudices in this area ought to be discarded in order for employers to better work rate and increase profitability

Conclusion

Healthcare costs are growing at a staggering pace. Managed care is an abysmal failure. Companies are buckling under the pressure of offering health coverage to their workers. American competitiveness in the market is sagging. These times call for extraordinary solutions. It’s time for American companies to consider some out-of-the-box solutions to the medical care crisis. Company wellness is an approach that is timely, achievable and reasonable given the alternatives. All options should be considered while we still have a chance.