Wellness Programs Seen as Way to Stop the Bleeding in Health Care Costs

Area employers sickened by rising health care costs may find relief in a growing number of wellness programs for employees.

Del Mar Heights broker Intercare Insurance Solutions reports that the average price of group health plans has increased 73 percent in the past five years, a quarter of which was preventable, said Dr. Terry Fouts, senior vice president for Great-West Healthcare.

“Twenty-five percent of what you spend on health care every year is something we can change through wellness; the tools, the programs, that is what’s going to affect your bottom line,” said Fouts, whose Denver firm insures 5,000 companies and 2 million people.

John Kahle, chief wellness officer for Intercare, said, “the mindset change from health care as an expense to health care as an investment” is coming.

Fouts was in town last week at Intercare’s invitation to speak to 90 employers, representing 40,000 workers. The audience also heard from David Hom, vice president of strategic initiatives for Pitney Bowes Inc., a document management service company in Connecticut.

Hom’s company, which employs 35,000 workers, saved $27 million last year, thanks to a wellness program that has evolved little by little during the past 12 years.

“Health care will never go down, what you can do is reduce the amount of inflation,” Hom said.

Since 2002, Pitney Bowes has seen only a 6.6 percent increase in health care cost per employee compared to 12 percent for other benchmark companies.

The program has been as simple as swapping Twinkies for fruit in company vending machines to more complex changes, such as installing on-site clinics, Hom said.

News of that savings was enough to intrigue local employers, which range from a hotel with less than 1,000 employees to a mortgage banker with 3,500 workers.

Word On The Street

To date, the Grand Del Mar, a five-star resort expected to open this October in the coastal community, has hired a third of 900-plus employees it needs to operate.

According to Rebecca Gurtner, director of human resources, the added expense of developing a wellness program on top of a brand new resort is daunting but may be worth it even though there’s no guarantee on the rate of return.

“It’s something that’s very interesting, especially in the hotel industry where you have to touch and feel everything,” Gurtner said. “Here’s something that you can’t really see at all as far as the return until you do it. But we’re definitely looking into it. It could definitely give us a competitive edge with our employees.”

San Diego-based Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co., which employs 3,500, is also looking into the development of a wellness program after enduring an 8 percent to 10 percent increase this year.

“We’ve actually been pretty lucky at 8 to 10 percent,” said Cindy Shinneman, human resources manager. “It’s a lot but when you consider what other people are saying, it’s lucky.”

Allen Adams, human resources benefits analyst with Accredited, doesn’t see wellness programs as a great new innovation but does see potential for the programs to have an impact on companies as rising health care costs become more of a burden.

“It’s not new but it does seem like it’s getting more press and so many people are talking about it a little bit more,” Adams said.

A Fit For All Sizes

Hom admits to having a not-so-hidden-agenda when it comes to promoting wellness programs at other companies. He said it’s important for Pitney Bowes to support U.S. businesses so that more companies don’t resort to foreign outsourcing that could make it harder for U.S.-based competition.

According to Hom, some 90 organizations have implemented wellness programs similar to Pitney Bowes’ program. Not all have been as large.

They include Proctor