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Wellness
Are you facing rising Health care costs? The Problem, however, is not the costs themselves. The problem is what is causing these costs.
Did you know that obesity is responsible for the least $90 Billion in direct U.S health care expenditures annually, And with increased rates of obesity, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has dramatically increase as well.
The Risk is Growing
California residents have gained 360 million pounds of excess weight in the past ten years, a rate that is among the fastest in the country. A third of our children, one in four teens, and over half of all adults are already overweight or obese.
Not only are chronic diseases, overweight, and obesity a detriment to health, but employees in poor health diminish the well being of the worksite. Unhealthy workers require more medical care, take more sick days, and are less productive on the job. This is a grave problem for employers as over half of all Californians today are at increased risk for heart desease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, arthritis-related disabilities, depression, sleep disorders, and some cancers.
The Costs are Escalating
Rates of chronic disease and disability associated with poor diet and inactivity continue to escalate year after year and are costing California $28 billion annually. Employers are bearing a sizable portion of these costs, primarily in terms of lost productivity and the increased cost of health and disability insurance. However, companies that invest in wellness programs report health care savings of nearly $3 for every $1 invested.
Wellness programs provide a good return on Investment
Just like the public health risk of cigarette smoking 30 years ago, adult obesity and its related conditions can be reversed through education and wise action. California's business leaders realize that standing by and doing nothing will not help reduce turnover, excessive sick leave costs, workers compensation claims, high absenteeism, or reduced earnings. Instead, business leaders are empowering themselves to be a catalyst for change in their employees lives and the worksite.
Solution
To curb this trend, you need to improve the health of your workforce. That's where we can help. Pickering Insurance Services, Inc. can offer you a Wellness quote from one of our top Wellness Vendors, such as American Specialty Health, Sonic Boom. There are programs for all of your employees. The Vendors specifically target those employees who are the most risk for costly diseases. These typically have one or more of the following traits:
They are overweight or obese
They have sedentary lifetyles
They are tobacco users
They have poor nutrition habits
They manage stress poorly
Research has shown that unless these risk factors are addressed, they result in decreased productivity and increased medical spending. If you think your company can benefit from this type of programs. Call us.
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Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA)
In response to increasing health care costs, employers have turned to Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), which allow them to set aside a specific amount annually for employees to use to pay for healthcare expenses. The flexible Plan design provides employers a way to offer their employees a wide variety of eligible benefits and reimbursement structures.
Often coupled with a high deductible healthcare plan, an HRA allows an employer to change their employee benefit package while still achieving their goals of lowering health insurance costs or maintaining costs at current levels.
First Dollar Plans
The most common Plan, this Plan complements a higher-deductible insurance plan, paying only for deductible items covered by insurance. A First Dollar Plan provides a bridge between out-of-pocket expenses and insurance coverage.
Comprehensive Plans
This comprehensive Plan pays all medical expenses not covered by insurance. Examples of these expenses include, but are not limited to: deductibles, co-pays, premiums, chiropractic services, dental, and vision care expenses.
Restricted Plans
A restricted Plan covers a specific group of expenses, such as prescription expenses or dental expenses.
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What exactly is an HSA?
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are tax-exempt accounts where funds grow to pay for medical expenses. They were created to help give control back to consumers and lower healthcare costs. HSAs provide a financial incentive for consumers to select a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). HDHPs have lower monthly premiums than traditional plans. The HSA/HDHP combination provides consumers with more incentive to shop carefully for healthcare services.
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An HSA is your account. If you switch jobs, the HSA goes with you. Your money rolls over every year. There is no "use it or lose it" requirement.
High Deductible Health Plans
In order to open an HSA, you must have a qualified High Deductible Health Plan. The IRS determines the guidelines for qualified HDHPs. The current IRS guidelines are:
| IRS
Requirements for 2009 |
|
Single
Plan |
Family
Plan |
|
Minimum Deductible |
$1,150 |
$2,300 |
| Maximum
Out-of-Pocket |
$5,800 |
$11,600 |
| Contribution
Limit |
$3,000 |
$5,950 |
| Catch-Up
Contribution (55 or older)* |
$1,000 |
$1,000 |
| *
If a spouse is also 55 or older, a second HSA must be established and
a second contribution of $1,000 could be made to that account. |
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Mini Clinics
Most of us have at some point awakened to a common but uncomfortable ailment such as strep throat, poison ivy or pink eye. These conditions are ones we can't treat on our own at home. So you haul yourself to a lengthy wait in your doctor's office as the staff attempts to work you in. Or you might end up in an emergency room for that long wait in much less comfortable and more expensive circumstance. Take hear: a solution exists in the "mini clinic".
Drug stores such as CVS and Walgreens and large outlets that sell drugs, like Wal-Mart and Target have founded express clinics, designed specifically to help you with those pesky but serious ailments. * Right now300 "mini-clinics" exist in several states. More than 4,000 will likely exist in the next few years. A quick and relatively inexpensive alternative to the doctor's office, these clinics offer nurse practitioners to manage your care. The growing shortage of family doctors has helped spawn this popular alternative.
The nurse practitioners are supervised by a physician and are quick to send people ailments requiring sophisticated treatment on the hospital or their physician. All prices are posted, no appointment is required and most mini-clinics are open 7 days per week.
One of the largest of these chain treatment centers, Minute Clinic, has 162 clinics in 19 states and will expand to 300 this year. Walgreens' Take Care clinic offers exam rooms just like the doctor's office. While physicians are concerned that the care be high quality, they support the basic concept according to an article in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Mini-Clinics can perform some routine tests and screenings, give shots, and write prescriptions. They can treat strep throat, colds, coughs, fever, flu, vomiting, bronchitis, allergies, ear and eye infections, urinary tract infections, minor injuries such as sprains, and skin conditions like cold sores, sunburn, athlete's foot and poison ivy. They can not treat chest pains, major burns, deep lacerations, chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma or high cholesterol, nor can they set broken bones.
As an example, in the mini-clinic strep throat treatment will cost on average $59. Compare this to an emergency room charge of $328; urgent care charge of $130 or primary care charge of $100-$132.00. Many health insurance plans will cover the cost.
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