Company Health and Wellness : Organization Wellness: Bottom Line Strategies For Effective Medical Care Reform

It is apparent to most Americans (especially those of us in business) that healthcare costs are skyrocketing out of control. No one doubts that either the market will solve the concern 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 expense of offering health insurance is almost as burdensome as government regulation. It’s time for some new thinking on healthcare and its effect on business and vice versa. “Corporate wellness” as an operational perspective rather than merely window dressing is one way to deal effectively with rising healthcare costs.

The Insurance Delimma

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

Here’s the approach. Provide catastrophic healthcare insurance as a group benefit to all workers with a big enough deductible (say $5000 per employee) to make the cost affordable for the corporation. Then, allow workers to buy their own healthcare insurance policies (based on their own needs) and pay for them through payroll deduction with pre-tax earnings. There are numerous insurance employers that sell individual plans on this basis. Everybody wins. Employees can tailor their coverage to their own needs and circumstances using their own doctors. Corporations win by stopping the endless cycle of rising costs and ever-changing plans. And when people 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 corporation offers great insurance benefits aren’t they telling you they’re going to cost you more money in the future?

Establish a “Wellness Culture”

Our current “sickness culture” perpetuates the healthcare crisis and hastens the demise of market-based solutions. By sickness culture, I mean our focus on health problems instead of on having a healthy workplace and performance culture.

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

Be open to “alternative and complementary” approaches

Studies published in major medical journals reveal that individuals 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 individuals look for ways to stay healthy without prescriptions and surgery, they end up being a net benefit in terms of attendance and productiveness. Old prejudices in this area ought to be discarded in order for organizations to improve productiveness and improve profitability

Conclusion

Medical Care expenditures are rising at a staggering pace. Managed care is an abysmal failure. Businesses are buckling under the pressure of providing 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 health care crisis. Company wellness is an approach that is timely, achievable and reasonable given the alternatives. All options must be considered while we still have a chance.