Big“I” Weekly Health Care Reform Update Report

WEEK OF JANUARY 4-8, 2010

The wish list. The White House – House – Senate bartering game began to take shape this past week as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) circulated her wish list to negotiators. Using the more moderate Senate bill as a benchmark, Pelosi’s document outlined a number of provisions that she would like amended in order to score a couple of victories for the liberal wing of her caucus. As arbiters of negotiations, President Obama and his chief of staff Rahm Emanuel are faced with the difficult task of threading a needle between the liberal and moderate factions of their Party. They must find a way to appease House Democrats on a couple of issues while maintaining the fragile 60 vote Democratic coalition in the Senate. Below is an overview of the issues included in Speaker Pelosi’s list:

Subsidies

The House negotiators would like to increase the subsidy amounts for those in lower income brackets.

Both the House and Senate bills establish subsidies for individuals and families with incomes between 133-400 percent of the federal poverty level. However, the House bill distributes more generous subsidies to individuals/families at the lower end of the subsidy spectrum.

Last week, President Obama stated that he supports expanding subsides.

The subsidy expansion would add significant costs to the bill, which are likely to be offset with additional tax increases.

Implementation Date

The House negotiators would like all health care reform provisions to be fully implemented by 2013.

The Senate bill staggers the implementation of health care reform provisions over the next five years with most of the core provisions taking effect in 2014.

The White House has not taken a formal position.

The one year acceleration is very costly – somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 billion.

Employer Mandate

The House negotiators would like to impose an employer mandate, similar to the version included in the House-passed bill.

The House bill would require employers to pay 72.5% of the premium for individual policies and 65% for family policies or pay a fee equal to 8% of payroll. Small businesses with payrolls less than $500,000 per year would be exempt. In the Senate bill, employers with more than 50 full-time employees who do not offer health insurance and have at least one employee who qualifies for a tax credit would have to pay a fee of $750 for each full-time employee.

The White House has not taken a formal position.

National Exchange vs. State Exchanges

The House negotiators would like to implement a one-size-fits-all national exchange, as included in the House-passed bill, rather than create state-based exchanges.

The Senate bill instructs each state to create and design an exchange.

The White House has not taken a formal position.

Cadillac Tax

The House negotiators would like to exempt middle-income individuals and families from the Cadillac tax. The exemption would likely come in the form of increased thresholds for the tax.

The Senate bill would impose a 40% excise tax on insurance companies who sell an employer-sponsored health insurance plan that has an aggregate value of $8,500/individuals and $23,000/families. The excise tax is imposed on the amount above the stated threshold. The House bill includes no such tax.

The White House has stated that they want the Cadillac tax included in the final bill. It is unclear whether or not they are willing to budge on the threshold amounts.

If the threshold amounts are increased, it is likely that policymakers will look to increase the Medicare payroll tax on wealthy Americans to offset the loss in tax revenue.

What to watch for this week:

1. President Obama is scheduled to address the House Democrats at their annual retreat this week as is former President Bill Clinton. What will President Obama’s message be on health care reform?

2. The White House has yet to announce the date of the State of the Union address. They are delaying the announcement in hopes of scheduling it in coordination with the passage of health care reform. Watch for an announcement of the date – it will indicate that a deal is imminent.

Illinois State Law Changes

New Year, New Laws

A new year always holds the promise of a new, fresh start as well as those hopeful resolutions.  This year the Illinois State legislator has made a plethora of new resolutions to brighten 2010.  Click here to read.  For employers, these laws have opened the door to a number of new exposures.

Have Company Cars – Your Exposed!

Business auto policies pay 100% for losses involving company-owned vehicles, not matter whether the accident occurs on-duty or off-duty. Click to read more about company car liability issues.

• Cell Phones (HB 72/PA 96-0131): Prohibits drivers from using cell phones in school or construction zones unless using a hands-free device.
• Court Fines (SB 1341/PA 96-0625): Imposes an additional $10 fee on any person who receives court supervision for a Vehicle Code violation to be deposited into the Driver’s Education Fund.
• Off Road Vehicles (HB 2455/PA 96-279): Makes several changes to the definition of non-highway vehicles in the Illinois Vehicle Code and requires that all non-highway vehicles operated on a street, highway or roadway be subject to Illinois’ minimum liability insurance limits. A non-highway vehicle is defined as a motor vehicle not specifically designed for use on a public highway including the following: all-terrain vehicles, golf carts, off-highway motorcycles, neighborhood vehicles.
• Texting (HB 71/PA 96-0130): Prohibits people operating a motor vehicle from using an electronic communication device, like a phone or computer, to compose, send or read an electronic message, but does not include a global positioning system, navigation system, or a device that is physically or electronically integrated into the motor vehicle.
• Trucking (HB 3956/PA 96-0524): Increases the speed limit to 65 mph for big trucks traveling on interstates outside Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties.
• Uninsured Motorists (HB 370/PA 96-0143): Increases the penalty for individuals caught operating an uninsured motor vehicle, if that uninsured vehicle causes bodily harm to come to another person.
• Vehicle Seizure (HB 253/PA 96-0502): Allows for the seizure and forfeiture of a motor vehicle driven while the offender’s driver’s license or privileges are suspended or revoked because of a reckless homicide

Provide Employee Benefits – Are You Compliant?

Even though Health Care Reform is ready to be rolled out, there are still new laws on the books that require immediate attention and compliance.  Click here to follow where legislation is on Health Care Reform.

• E-Verify (SB 1133/PA 96-0623): Allows employers to use the E-Verify Program and the Basic Pilot Program to help them verify the employment eligibility of new employees.
• Medicaid Payment Penalty (HB 237/PA 96-0802): Establishes that Medicaid bills must be paid within 60 days of receiving the bill and increases late-payment penalties to two percent (now one percent) per month to help providers offset the costs accrued while waiting for the payment, and encourage more prompt payment of bills by the state.
• Wellness (SB 1877/PA 96-0639): Provides that a health insurance policy that provides coverage for treatment on an expense incurred basis, may offer a program for wellness coverage.

2010: A Tale of Two Bills

It was the best of times and the worst of times… An appropriate intro for a blog about Health Care Reform! Obviously, it depends on what side of the debate you favor. Regardless, the heavily publicized and much debated process of Healthcare Reform is now down to two bills: Senate vs. House.

The current favorite is the Senate bill. The Kaiser Foundation provides a very succinct side-by-side comparison of these two bills (Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and House’s Affordable Health Care for America Act). While both bills are geared towards expanding the number of insureds either through subsidy or due to individual mandate – neither bill actually addresses how to manage the costs associated to adding on about 50 million uninsured individuals. It’s the quintessential 900lb Gorilla in the room… Where is the money coming from?

Logically, most employers have to be wondering how or if this will affect their bottom line. At this time, it’s difficult to predict how these changes will affect employers. As the Senate bill is currently written, some components start in 2010 while others will be implemented over the next 4 to 6 years and will vary on the size of the business.

Over the next several weeks, I intend on keeping my blog up to date in order to keep my readers informed. As well as including the most innovative strategies that will make adopting these mandates a smooth process. In the meantime, there is one strategy that will hold true no matter the new mandates… Market innovation that includes consumerism, wellness, safety and benefit education combined with proactive planning will still prevail in cost control.

Big“I” Weekly Health Care Reform Update Report

WEEK OF DECEMBER 28, 2009 – JANUARY 1, 2010

Let the sausage making begin!   With the House and Senate health care bills on the books, the early part of 2010 is set to be the stage for the ever messy process of merging two bills into a single product. Key committee and leadership staff cut their holiday breaks short last week to return to Washington to begin working through the two bills, and Democratic leaders are slated to return this week to begin negotiations. The House and Senate bills differ significantly on a number of fronts, including the public option and employer mandate. However, given the very fragile 60-vote compromise in the upper chamber, the final bill is expected to more closely resemble the Senate-passed bill.

Who is up for a game of congressional ping pong?   Typically, when the House and Senate pass different variations of a bill, they establish a formal conference committee composed of committee leadership from both parties to negotiate a compromise bill or “conference report”. When agreement is reached on the conference report, the House and Senate then each separately vote on the final legislation. The conference process is riddled with timely procedural gambits in each chamber, so much so that Democratic Leadership is expected to forego the formal conference committee process and instead engage in a quicker game of congressional ping pong between the House and Senate. Congressional ping pong is a fairly short game that only entails a serve and a return. As soon as House and Senate Democratic Leadership come to an agreement on a compromise bill, they will likely send the bill to the House (“ping”) for a simple majority vote and then the Senate (“pong”) where Democratic Leadership will once again need 60 votes to fend off a filibuster from Republicans. Pending passage of both chambers, the bill will be sent to the President for his signature and then become law.

A February bill signing forecast.   While Democratic Leadership has expressed hope of passing health care reform prior to the State of the Union address in late January, that timeline is very likely to slip into February. The House is scheduled to reconvene next Tuesday, January 12th, and the Senate is slated to return on the following Tuesday, January 19th. Even if a deal was reached over the next two weeks, the Senate would be hard pressed to jump over the time consuming filibuster hurdles prior to February.

Big“I” Weekly Health Care Reform Update Report

WEEK OF DECEMBER 14-18, 2009

Let it snow. With snowfall just beginning to accumulate on Friday (12/18) evening, Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE), the lone holdout in the Democratic Caucus, told Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) that he would support the health care reform bill with a few trade-offs for his home state. With Nelson’s vote in hand, the Democratic Caucus was now armed with a super majority of 60 votes – enough to invoke cloture and end debate on health care reform.

Rain, Snow or Shine. With Washington blanketed with nearly two feet of snow on Saturday, the city was completely shut down for the weekend – except for the Senate of course. Shortly after 1:00 a.m. this morning (12/21), the Senate, on a party line vote of 60-40, invoked cloture to end debate on the Manager’s Amendment (a 383 page smorgasbord of amendments to the bill). This morning’s vote was the first of three cloture (60 vote) hurdles the Senate must eclipse over the next three days in order to pass health care reform. However, with the Democratic Caucus now unified in support of the bill, it is just a matter of time before the Senate passes their health care reform bill.

So what’s in the Manager’s Amendment for me? The Big “I” scored a few big victories in the Manager’s Amendment:

Role of Agents and Brokers – The Manager’s Amendment requires the Secretary of HHS to establish procedures for agents or brokers to enroll employers in qualified health plans. The original Senate bill said the Secretary of HHS “may” establish such procedures. This slight tweak in the language clarifies the role of agents and brokers in the health insurance exchanges.

Agent and Broker Commissions – The Manager’s Amendment strikes (“deletes”) a provision that would have granted the Secretary of HHS the authority to establish national rate schedules for broker commissions paid by qualified health plans. The Senate bill does not clarify who will regulate commissions, but we believe the intent is to give the states such regulatory authority. The Big “I” government affairs staff will work to have this language clarified.

Public Option – The Manager’s Amendment removes the public option and instead permits private insurers to offer national not-for-profit insurance policies that would be negotiated by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). At least two national plans would be available in each state exchange.

Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) – The Manager’s Amendment establishes a medical loss ratio of 85% for large group plans (100-plus lives) and 80% for small group (2-99 lives) and individual plans. This MLR is much more favorable than the 90% being floated over the past two weeks.

I hope you didn’t have Christmas plans. If the cloture votes proceed as scheduled over the next few days, the Senate will vote on final passage of their health care reform bill on Christmas Eve, between 7:00-9:00 p.m.

The Senate Schedule:
Tuesday (12/22)

• Vote on Manager’s Amendment (51 vote threshold); and
• Vote to invoke cloture on the Reid Substitute (underlying health care reform bill – 60 vote threshold)

Wednesday (12/23)

• Vote on Reid Substitute (51 vote threshold)

A couple more good articles to read:

• The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Section-by-Section Analysis
• Trusted Choice: Side-by-Side Comparison

 

More uninsured patients cause struggle for local hospitals

Rising number of uninsured, proposed health care reform hurt doctors

While about 700 working Hoosiers each week lose health insurance during the declining economy, local hospitals and doctors are left to figure out how they can continue to treat more and more uninsured.

Further, the expectation of full reimbursement for the cost of care from Medicaid and Medicare patients is a growing financial hurdle.

“The rising indigent load is a very significant problem,” said Jim Lipinski, CFO of the Northern Indiana Region of Sisters of St. Francis Health Services. “Other hospitals in our region have seen similar trends.”

In one year, Methodist Hospital in Gary saw almost a 20 percent increase in uninsured patients, said CFO Loren Chandler.

St. Margaret Mercy Hospital in Hammond saw a 15 percent increase during that same time.

Meanwhile, the race for national health care reform policy remains a hot political issue as legislators work to provide universal health coverage for the uninsured. The proposed health care reform plan includes reducing Medicaid payments to hospitals and doctors, which could cause problems for providers.

“If they start taking away the money before taking away the uninsured, then it’s not going to work,” Lipinski said.

In Hammond, St. Margaret Mercy writes off about 8 percent of its business as charity work because patients cannot pay for the care, Lipinski said. In addition, 75 percent of the hospital’s business comes from a combination of patients in the Medicare program for the elderly and the state Medicaid program for the poor.

“Medicaid doesn’t come anywhere close to covering the cost of Medicaid services,” Lipinski said. “We get paid by the state to provide the care for Medicaid, but it’s a major losing operation. Medicare is better, but many argue that it still doesn’t cover the cost of care.”

According to Chandler, reducing Medicaid reimbursement would devastate hospitals like Methodist. The hospital – similar to others that treat a large number of uninsured, Medicaid and Medicare patients – receives government funding to help compensate for the partial reimbursements and charity write-offs.

“That still doesn’t get us to a point where the hospitals are making a profit, and we need to get to that point so we can reinvest in equipment, in our people and recruiting doctors,” Chandler said.

“The profits a hospital makes is really a reinvestment into the community it serves.”

Communities in Illinois are experiencing similar issues.

The Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce has been meeting with hospital leaders and other health care providers to discuss how to handle the increasing uninsured population.

“Part of the problem is people just showing up in the hospital emergency rooms because they have no health care, and that is the resource of choice,” said Mike Wojcik, chairman of the chamber’s health care council.

Nearly one-fifth of the country’s 120 million hospital-based visits in 2006 were uninsured patients, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Wojcik said the chamber is working to educate people on other health care resources they may not know are available.

Dr. Anthony Wilko, medical director of emergency medicine at St. Margaret Mercy hospitals, said emergency room wait times can stretch up to two hours. Some patients they treat fall short of emergency status, he said, seeking care for sore throats and other routine conditions normally seen by family physicians.

In other cases, uninsured patients put off visiting a doctor for care because they cannot afford to pay for an appointment. And when these patients do come into the emergency room, many are seriously ill with something that could have been prevented, Wilko said.

“Sometimes problems can be put off,” he said. “Instead of going in and having their chest pain evaluated, they may wait. That can make a difference between a timely and untimely outcome.”

And regardless of the number of uninsured patients doctors see in hospital emergency rooms, the majority of the uninsured’s health care bills are never paid. Lipinski said the Sisters of Saint Francis are mission-driven hospitals and would continue to care for whomever walked in their doors.

“We’re going through an extensive study of all the costs of running the hospital,” he said. “We are trying not to have to go through a major layoff.”

Eventually, he said cuts would have to come from somewhere – hospitals may not replace equipment like MRI machines, introduce new technologies, halt or delay construction projects or reduce hiring.

At Methodist Hospitals, officials said some doctors treat poor patients free of charge. But as reimbursement rates remain stagnant and the volume of uninsured patients increases, Chandler said eventually something has to change.

“You’re going to have to start limiting the care,” he said.

Fast Facts

301.6 million — U.S. population in 2007

15 — Percent of the U.S. population that was uninsured in 2007

6,080,522 — Population of Indiana in 2007

12 — Percent of uninsured Hoosiers in 2007

800,000 –Number of Hoosiers receiving Medicaid services in 2008

450,000 –Number of Hoosiers currently enrolled in the state-sponsored Healthy Indiana Plan, or HIP

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Kaiser Family Foundation, Indiana Family and Social Services Administration

Sarah Tompkins – sarah.tompkins@nwi.com | Posted: Sunday, July 19, 2009 12:00 am

A Helping Hand For the Less Fortunate…

This year has been undoubtedly, one of the most difficult years for many families. The economic downturn has forced many to tightened their belts. However, tough it has been this year, there are many people that have not forgotten it is better to give then receive. Click here to read how volunteers for the Advocate South Suburban Hospital has raised over $150,000 to construct a nursery to provide advanced care for premature babies.

Embracing technology

This article is an oldie but still very relevant, thus my repost.

Embracing technology
Brokers need to get with the program on self-service, administrative technology

Like all good business people, brokers put a premium on their relationships with clients. But in the Internet age, the sharpest also realize that even with a good product, a smile and a firm handshake, you need something more to close a deal.

Many experts believe that something more can be found in technology that makes life easier and more efficient for both the employer and the broker. And if brokers have not caught on to the benefits, they need to do so now, or they are not going to survive.

“Information flows fast and furious between clients, insurance carriers and producers,” observes Michael Wojcik, senior vice president of the Chicago broker firm The Horton Group. “The new technology allows us to accomplish a lot more in a shorter period of time. Brokers that are technology-challenged right now will have a harder time keeping up.”

Quick, efficient, valuable

The debate over how much of the sales and administration process to automate is not new. Ever since high technology invaded the benefits world, brokers have wavered between the efficiency of self-service and the relationships bred from face-to-face interaction, coming to rest somewhere in the middle. But now, although in-person exchanges are still important, brokers are realizing that it is more vital to handle their clients’ benefits issues quickly, efficiently and with as much value as possible. In fact, some believe it is necessary to facilitate face-to-face relationships.

With advances in self-service technology, “clients can handle basic administration without having to call in the insurance broker, so now they can talk about more strategic things such as the future direction of the employee benefit programs,” says Alan Cohen, CEO of OnlineBenefits, a broker partner that provides technological solutions. “Face-to-face interaction is still critical, and on a strategic level, you will always need it.”

It is just that there are other issues that will not necessarily be solved by talking things through. As Wojcik points out, information flows much faster now than it used to. That means employers and carriers expect to get what they need sooner than ever.

“If you do business with 10 or 11 organizations that require you to provide census data on eligibility, you have to provide it to them,” says Richard Travers, managing partner of the New York broker firm Travers O’keefe.

In fact, say Wojcik and Cohen, insurance carriers, not always among the most rapid companies to adopt new benefits technology, have started considering certain capabilities a given when it comes to broker relationships. Many of them, for instance, only will accept RFPs over the Web.

Moreover, employee-consumers are more comfortable researching and buying insurance products over the Web, and they have neither the time nor the patience to attend meetings when they can get the information via computer.

“People skim the Net; they don’t surf it anymore,” comments Michael Hope, a sales consultant at Spindustry, a technology solutions firm that works extensively with brokers. “Research is big. HR people aren’t just taking the agent’s word for it anymore. They’re looking around.”

There’s an overall comfort with the net, period. Five years ago, people probably didn�t want to buy CDs and books over the Web, but they do now.

story

Posted by Craig at December 31, 2003 04:50 PM

Southland hospital execs in accord on critical issues

Southland hospital execs in accord on critical issues

While Congress struggles to craft a health care reform bill acceptable to constituents and President Barack Obama, regional providers are not sitting back.

Nearly 200 business people recently heard a panel discussion packed the Holiday Inn Tinley Park Convention Center for a Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce event focused on present and future health care coverage.

Michael Wojcik, Chamber health care vice chairman and senior vice president of The Horton Group, moderated the discussion, featuring panelists Arnold Kimmel, CEO of Metro South Medical Center (formerly St. Francis) in Blue Island; Michael Holmes, executive vice president and COO of St. James Hospital and Health Centers in Chicago Heights and Olympia Fields; Eileen Gillespie, vice president and chief nurse executive at Advocate South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest; and Vince Pryor, CEO of Ingalls Health System in Harvey.

“We’re in the midst of history-making health care reform that will affect all of us,” said Wojcik, who participated in health care transition meetings for the Obama administration.

Panel members echoed each other on critical issues. These include the rising number of under- and uninsured patients, the dramatic increase in emergency room visits, lengthy delays in Medicaid and Medicare payments and the need to streamline services while raising safety procedures and customer satisfaction.

Both Metro South and Ingalls have invested millions of dollars in information technology with the goal of having all patient records centralized in each hospital’s internal network; this saves time, money and facilitates patient care.

“We’ve evolved (in the last year) from a Catholic not-for-profit hospital to a for profit, tax-paying hospital,” Kimmel said.

While maintaining the excellence in cardiology established under St. Francis, Metro South has added “enhanced services for women and infants.”

Community outreach includes free blood pressure and diabetes screenings at area businesses.

“This is not only good medicine but good business too,” Kimmel said.

St. James has operated in the red for the last nine of 10 years, Holmes said. Fortunately, the 98-year-old provider is under the wing of the Sisters of St. Francis of Mishawaka, Ind.

As St. James continues to work toward profitability, it has streamlined services; cardiology and oncology departments are at Olympia Fields while women’s care, pediatrics, rehabilitation and hospice are centered in Chicago Heights.

“We also are working on patient satisfaction and making certain we have the right employees in the right places,” Holmes noted.

Gillespie said that “educating, empowering and partnership with patients” are critical to preventive care.

South Suburban has positioned itself as a leader in caring for victims of violent crimes.

“We have nurses 24/7 who are uniquely qualified (to work with) victims of sexual abuse,” she said.

Gillespie also emphasized the increasing shortage of primary care physicians can be addressed by highly trained nurse practitioners.

Meanwhile, mental health is an area that remains underserved and one in which hospitals need to partner.

“We also need tort reform. It’s easy for doctors to move across to Indiana where there has happened,” Gillespie added.

“I could say ‘ditto’ (to everyone),” Pryor noted. “What’s different about Ingalls is we are a not-for-profit independent health system. We have only our board and the community to answer to.”

The system is profitable as family care centers in Tinley Park, Calumet City and Flossmoor have dramatically increased Ingalls’ outpatient volume.

“This will be another huge challenge as we go forward,” he said.

The Company with 100 Percent Wellness Participation

The secrets about how one employer attained mythical success with its wellness program.

By KEVIN HERMAN, director of worksite wellness for the The Horton Group

Workplace wellness programs often provide employers with positive results, such as happier employees, reduced absenteeism and a strong return on investment. As a rule, the third year of a well-constructed wellness program is when employers often see the true results of their efforts. Employers generally witness significant positive cultural changes in the way health and wellness are viewed within the workplace.
However, without modifications and additions after the first year, it is common for organizations to lose their initial enthusiasm and begin to feel like their program has stagnated. Or they fail to see the results they originally hoped to achieve.

Likewise, employers who focus only on cost control and do not give employees access to positive interventions, may see declines in program participation. Oftentimes, these organizations fail to communicate intentions to employees or fail to make the interventions both fun and interesting. Many organizations also fail to make the small investments needed in incentives in order to help employees choose to participate more often. It is also important when starting to have clear metrics to track improvements so you can see successes.

Robinson Engineering, a premier civil engineering firm that provides diversified municipal engineering expertise throughout the Midwest, is not one of the companies experiencing a loss of interest. Nearly three years after implementing its wellness program, Robinson has seen incredible results and is reaching new heights in program participation.

In June 2007, Horton Health Initiatives helped Robinson implement its wellness program in order to educate employees about choosing healthier options and leading healthier lifestyles.

INVOLVE EVERYONE

Robinson implemented its wellness program with the support and involvement of senior management, which are vital to the success of wellness initiatives. Management needs to recognize wellness as a worthwhile endeavor that is valuable to employees in order to invest the time and funds needed to advance the program.

“Often, an investment in wellness does not need to include a huge dollar figure to see great results. If you think of the investment in relation to the cost of the health plan, 1 percent to 2 percent of that cost will go a long way,” says Mike Wojcik, senior vice president at Horton.

But management was not the only party involved. This past year, 100 percent of Robinson employees (about 100 people in total) participated in the biometric screenings and Health Risk Assessments. Robinson was able to score a perfect participation rate because of a mix of a high financial incentive, a strong communication campaign to inform employees of why they were implementing the incentive and a positive employment culture that facilitated an early trust in the employer’s motives for screening.

When 100 percent of employees participate in health initiatives, it’s possible for employers to recognize and address everyone’s health issues.

Because of Robinson’s companywide support and success, the employer was recognized by its health management vendor, Interactive Health Solutions (IHS), as “one of the healthiest companies in America”–an award only given to approximately 100 out of 2,000 employers screened by IHS for their employees’ overall heart and stoke health.

START STRONG AND ORGANIZED

How has Robinson been able to maintain momentum and improve employee health? The success results from a combination of factors, beginning with the company’s solid plan. To launch the program, Horton helped Robinson survey employees, asking them about their interests and wellness ideas.

From there, the company’s wellness committee compiled the results and built activities surrounding those interests. Members of the wellness committee are volunteers from all divisions of the company who help to implement and expand the program. The company adopted a wellness committee logo that incorporated the company culture and image. Robinson also communicates wellness results with pride and continues to reward employee efforts.

Since there are so many wellness topics and events introduced at Robinson, each employee is likely to find something that appeals to him or her. Programs include health club subsidies, healthy potluck lunches, on-site educational seminars and other activities with creative incentives, such as raffle prizes, healthy snacks and cash from walking competitions.

During the company’s weight-loss contest, participants lost an average of seven pounds each. In 2009, Horton began providing on-site body composition analysis and educational counseling regarding the results. Wellness education information is readily available to employees on Robinson’s Intranet site. These materials are located in a section dedicated to wellness topics and houses the monthly wellness newsletters distributed to employees.

RESULTS

Today, the Robinson wellness program has proven to be a great success. Proof is in the results, as shown by Robinson’s current return of investment of almost 10 to one.

The data from the biometric screenings and health risk assessments showed that 88 percent of employees who were diagnosed as pre-diabetic in 2008 improved their status by 2009 from pre-diabetic levels to normal glucose levels.

Also, 75 percent of employees with high cholesterol in 2008 improved by 2009. None of Robinson’s employees were rated as “high risk” in 2009 in terms of the major risk factors for preventable cardiovascular disease.

The employees at Robinson Engineering have become healthier since the company implemented its wellness program in 2007 with the help of Horton. The program is an important part of the company culture, and will continue to develop based on employee goals and ideas, allowing for even healthier results moving forward.

By recognizing the potential for a healthy improvement, getting everyone on board, and starting strong and organized, all organizations will begin to see results and successes as Robinson has.

November 1, 2009

Copyright 2009© LRP Publications