Derek Sharratt, an analyst programmer at Secura, works out in the company?s fitness center. Health and wellness are incorporated into the culture of the company, which recently won a platinum-level Well Workplace Award from the Wellness Councils of America (WELCOA). Badger Mining Corp. of Berlin also was a platinum-level winner. To read more about the awards, visit insightonbusiness.com.
As Wisconsin?s businesses struggle with rising health insurance premiums, employers are looking to their workforce to help meet those challenges by encouraging healthier lifestyle choices.
Nationally, the Kaiser Family Foundation?s annual look at the state of employer-sponsored insurance shows health insurance costs are growing much faster than wages. The report says that while employee contributions to their health insurance premiums jumped by 180 percent since 1999, their earnings grew just a quarter as fast. The average health insurance plan offered by a large company is $15,745, and many employers are shifting more health care costs to their workers.
That?s why more employers are taking a proactive approach to lowering health risks, and employees are eagerly climbing on board.
Appleton-based Secura Insurance has offered employees an on-site ?mini physical,? a health risk assessment that includes a blood draw, cholesterol check, blood pressure and body fat measurement. Based on the risk evaluation score, employees can earn a 5, 10 or 15 percent credit to offset health and medical premiums.
?It?s a reward for being healthy, and it works,? says Becky Doell, human resources consultant at Secura. ?Every year more and more of our associates qualify for the maximum credit, and today the majority of them do earn that 15 percent.?
Doell says risk and prevention are a part of life that the property and casualty insurance company deals with daily, and knows that prevention is an investment that pays off not only for its associates, but for the company?s bottom line. For instance, carrying extra weight is a risk factor. Health care costs for someone in the obesity range can increase an additional $600. Someone scoring high in eight risk factors are susceptible to as many as 15 chronic conditions, which translate into higher health care costs.
Employee wellness assessments are gaining in popularity in northeast Wisconsin and nationwide as costs continue to rise. And while more workers are rolling up their sleeves for testing, many are concerned whether their health risk status should be a public matter.
?The employers we serve get to see an aggregate summary of risks for the total employee population, but we keep individual results confidential,? says Michael Naparalla, president and co-owner of Healics, the oldest privately held risk assessment company in Wisconsin. With offices in Appleton and Williams Bay, the nurse owned-and-operated company supports employer-sponsored wellness programs across the nation with worksite health screens, individual and group health risk reports, health coaching and online interactive wellness resources.
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It?s all about risk
Naparalla says nationwide, 20 percent of employees are driving 80 percent of health insurance costs for companies. For every 100 employees a business has, 63 are overweight or obese, 38 have high cholestorol, 24 don?t exercise, 29 have high blood pressure and 18 smoke or chew tobacco.
?We do have a lot more manufacturing in the New North, and as a general trend we know that men in those industries tend not to go to the doctor for regular checkups,? says Naparalla, who sees an increased risk of cardio issues in the Dairy State.
According to the World Health Organization, 80 percent of all heart disease stroke and Type 2 diabetes, and up to 40 percent of cancers
could be prevented if people ate healthier, exercised more and stopped using tobacco. But scary statistics don?t produce change: motivation does.
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A culture of wellness
Continual support with small but steady progress leads to changes that stick, and a healthy business culture starts at the top with buy-in from the president and executive leadership.
?That attitude trickles down to the entire organization, so it really motivates people if they know their managers are on board. And if leadership isn?t excited about healthy change, they need to change course themselves and preach it for the overall good of the organization,? says Naparalla.
A wellness-focused corporate culture and a healthy work/life balance was exactly what Barb Kretsch was looking for in an employer when she joined Secura five years ago.
?I needed to get back to a healthier me, and this environment offers so many different opportunities in its wellness program that you really have to choose not to be healthy,? says Kretsch, marketing communications manager at Secura. ?I credit the company?s wellness program, the fitness instructors and colleagues in my classes to where I am today. Overall, I feel good about myself, and I have more energy to perform my role.?
Health and wellness are values deeply, intentionally embedded into the culture of the company, with an emphasis on good eating habits and exercise. Employees can take a break and work out at the on-site fitness center with a personal trainer. At the caf?, healthy entr?es, fresh fruits and vegetables are priced lower than standard fare, and menu selections are labeled bronze, silver and gold with gold being the healthiest option. Secura even had software installed to help measure portion control and tally nutritional information for various eating plans like Weight Watchers.
For Kretsch, working out three days a week has not only helped lower her insurance premiums, but inspired her to start running. This year she participated in her first 5K and five-mile runs.
?I never dreamed that would happen in my lifetime,? Kretsch says.
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