By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    physical health
    5 Ways Playing Games Can Improve Neural and Physical Health
    September 9, 2022
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    Reasons For Hair Loss and Its Treatment
    February 16, 2022
    healthcare organization
    5 Actionable Strategies For Healthcare Organizations
    August 15, 2022
    Latest News
    3 Ways To Deal With Health Issues In Cities With High Pollution
    March 22, 2023
    What Tools Should Your Caregiver Have?
    March 22, 2023
    How to Combat Home Sickness After Moving Abroad
    March 19, 2023
    4 Ways to Recover from a Broken Hip
    March 14, 2023
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    What Is The Future of Medicare And Its Workforce?
    September 28, 2020
    4 Things That Could Happen in Health Reform
    February 5, 2018
    Counselors role
    What’s Does a Counselor’s Role Involve?
    August 26, 2019
    Latest News
    3 Ways to Improve the U.S. Healthcare System By 2030
    March 14, 2023
    6 Steps To Ensure Speed And Efficiency Of Clinical Studies
    March 14, 2023
    5 Most Valuable Healthcare Programs in 2023
    March 8, 2023
    The Everest Foundation’s Mission to Support Inclusive Healthcare
    February 24, 2023
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Wellness, Nondiscrimination and Evidence-Based Public Policy
Share
Sign In
Notification Show More
Latest News
health issues for office workers
Biggest Health Issues Office Workers Need to Content With
News
pollution impact on health
3 Ways To Deal With Health Issues In Cities With High Pollution
Health
caregiver importance
What Tools Should Your Caregiver Have?
Medicare
boost body energy level
The Best Natural Ways to Boost Your Body Energy & Focus
Wellness
virtual reality in optometry
What Are the Implications of Virtual Reality in Optometry?
Technology
Aa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Aa
Search
Have an existing account? Sign In
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Wellness > Wellness, Nondiscrimination and Evidence-Based Public Policy
Wellness

Wellness, Nondiscrimination and Evidence-Based Public Policy

David Harlow
Last updated: 2013/06/02 at 2:00 PM
David Harlow
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

MC900440127A couple of recent wellness-related headlines caught my eye.

MC900440127A couple of recent wellness-related headlines caught my eye.

Exhibit A: The Federales (IRS, DOL & HHS) finalized the regulations governing Incentives for Nondiscriminatory Wellness Programs in Group Health Plans under the ACA.

In a nutshell, these regulations establish a framework for incentives to employees to participate in and succeed at employer-sponsored wellness programs. More accurately, they establish a safe harbor, an affirmative defense to a potential employment discrimination lawsuit brought by someone who didn’t get the fianncial benefit or health insurance discount because he or she didn’t enroll or didn’t succeed in the employer-sponsored wellness program — a “participatory” wellness program, like a health club membership reimbursement plan, or a “health-contingent program” like a tobacco users’ health insurance surcharge or a health insurance discount available to any employee who does not test positive for a given biometric health risk marker — like high cholesterol — and to any employee who does test positive and who also attends relevant sessions with a health coach.

More Read

medical weight loss

Medical Weight Loss – What is it and Does it Work?

Beyond Flexibility: The Surprising Benefits of a Regular Yoga Practice
How Hospitals and Other Healthcare Providers Can Boost Employee Morale
5 Reasons Why Investing in Senior Care Is a Wise Choice?
Personal Injury Healing Tips and Strategies

So long as the incentives meet the requirements of the regs, that sort of lawsuit is a loser. For health-contingent wellness programs, these requirements include: no more than a 30% disparity in cost — up from 20% in the past, with the possibility of greater disparities in the future, in the Secretary’s discretion, and also up to 50% in the case of tobacco use.

Wellness programs are big business – and big business seems to like them, investing significant amounts of money and promoting them both for their health improvement and cost reduction qualities. This new regulation sets the stage for even more spending on wellness programs.

Exhibit B: The RAND Health Workplace Wellness Programs Study was released — a work commissioned by the agencies responsible for this rule, and released in conjunction with the promulgation of the final regulations.

Blogging at Forbes.com, Dan Munro highlighted the early release of the report, its withdrawal and later reissuance, but more importantly distiled some key elements from the report and from other press coverage:

  • Participants lost an average of only 1 pound a year for 3 years
  • No significant reductions in total cholesterol levels
  • Some evidence of successful smoking cessation – but only “in the short term”
  • Statistically insignificant cost savings of $2.38/mo (year 1) and $3.46 (year 5)
  • Statistically insignificant reduction in cost or use of emergency department or hospital care

And fnally, a direct quote from the report:

Our statistical analyses suggest that participation in a wellness program over five years is associated with a trend toward lower health care costs and decreasing health care use. We estimate the average annual difference to be $157, but the change is not statistically significant.

So, what is to be done? (Relax, I’m not going to quote Lenin or Chernyshevsky.) Some would say that we need to take cold, hard look at the contemporary culture of corporate wellness programs, and synthesize something new in response to the realization that these things apparently don’t work consistently as advertised. See the recent post by Vik Khanna & Al Lewis at The Health Care Blog, in which they imagine themselves to be rogue GE shareholders and send Jeff Immelt a message about redesigning wellness programs. (As an aside: their point about corporate food service and the need to serve healthy foods is a point that should be taken to heart by all the health care conference planners who dish up decidedly unhealthful food and beverages.)

We’re still in search of the magic bullet – some incredible combination of long-term and short-term incentives packaged through game theory or otherwise to move us all to make behavioral changes that will improve our individual and collective health. And today’s mesage is: keep searching.

Federal regulations that give employers wider discretion in doling out economic incentives don’t help all that much in the long run if we still haven’t figured out just what exactly those incentives ought to be underwriting. The deep-seated belief in the power of wellness programs undergirds a variety of other policies as well — value-based purchasing models (including the ACO model), and the latest phase of Massachusetts health reform, for example.

In the short run, there is some evidence that this is just another cost-shifting game, where the costs of wellness programs are underwritten by less healthy folk. That’s not a really good idea to pursue long-term.

David Harlow
The Harlow Group LLC
Health Care Law and Consulting

TAGGED: corporate wellness programs

Sign Up For Daily Newsletter

Be keep up! Get the latest breaking news delivered straight to your inbox.
By signing up, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe at any time.
David Harlow June 2, 2013
Share this Article
Facebook Twitter Copy Link Print
Share
Previous Article Image Microsoft’s New ‘Xbox One’ Can Measure Heart Rate
Next Article Can YOU Innovate Healthcare? Critical Info For Startups

Stay Connected

1.5k Followers Like
4.5k Followers Follow
2.8k Followers Pin
136k Subscribers Subscribe

Latest News

health issues for office workers
Biggest Health Issues Office Workers Need to Content With
News March 22, 2023
pollution impact on health
3 Ways To Deal With Health Issues In Cities With High Pollution
Health March 22, 2023
caregiver importance
What Tools Should Your Caregiver Have?
Medicare March 22, 2023
boost body energy level
The Best Natural Ways to Boost Your Body Energy & Focus
Wellness March 22, 2023

You Might also Like

boost body energy level
Wellness

The Best Natural Ways to Boost Your Body Energy & Focus

March 22, 2023
obese and importance of weight loss
Wellness

Obese? 5 Reasons You Should Lose Weight (Some Are Surprising!)

March 2, 2023
poor sleep disorder
Wellness

How To Combat Poor Sleep Without Medication

February 23, 2023
boost your mood with exercise
Wellness

How Diet and Exercise Can Boost Your Mood

February 22, 2023
//

We influence million of users and is the most authentic source of information on healthcare business and technology news.

Quick Links

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Subscribe

Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!

Follow US

© 2008-2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.

Removed from reading list

Undo
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?