Most employees don’t think they should be required to participate in wellness programs to qualify for employer-provided health insurance, according to a new survey released by the National Business Group on Health. Moreover, they don’t think employers should charge employees more for health coverage if they don’t meet specific health goals.
Employees oppose the linking of their health plan to wellness program participation, with 62% opposing charging employees more for health coverage if they do not participate in wellness programs. Over 80% of employees favor offering a financial reward to employees who meet specific health goals but only 29% favor charging employees more for health coverage if they don’t meet health goals. Sixty-eight percent oppose requiring employees to participate in a wellness program in order to qualify for health insurance.
“You can give them more, but you can’t charge them or take it away from them, according to these employees,” noted Helen Darling, president, NBGH, during a press briefing.
However, the survey of 1,545 employees at companies with 2,000 or more employees also found nearly four-in-ten (39%) rank biometric screenings as a very important health benefit program, followed by exercise programs (31%) and onsite fitness centers (31%). Interestingly, 35% of employees don’t consider any of these programs to be very important.
The survey also shows employees aren’t particularly knowledgeable about the investment their employers make in health care. Just four-in-ten can estimate their employer’s contribution to their health care premium and most of those are, at best, only somewhat confident in their estimate.
“Employers need to help employees understand how rich the benefit is that they’re providing,” said Darling.
Over 60% of employees are very satisfied with their health plan, according to the survey. “Despite higher premium costs and higher out of pocket costs, compared to three years ago, 35% had higher satisfaction levels with their health coverage and 53% had similar satisfaction,” said Darling. “They’re paying more but they’re as satisfied or more satisfied.”
One-third of employees are not confident in their ability to shop for any insurance on their own, while 53% aren’t confident they could purchase the same or better insurance on their own.
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7 Comments
Posted by: Kenneth W | July 30, 2012 3:00 PM
"Over 80% of employees favor offering a financial reward but only 29% favor charging more if they don't meet health goals" ... this is a shell game and whoever hasn't learned to frame his/her messaging accordingly should suffer the wrath of hi/her ees. The interesting fact is a good % of ees value wellness and "rank biometric screenings as a very important health benefit program, followed by exercise programs and onsite fitness centers." These are facts upon which we should be building.
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Posted by: msmox | July 30, 2012 2:56 PM
In a free market economy, this would not even be a discussion. Risk would be factored in amongst many other items to determine what a person would pay for their own health care, i.e., that which they had to research and pay for with their own money. Get the employers out of it, allow real competition between companies on a nationwide basis and you will have an efficient, fairly priced, and innovative health system. Obamacare is the exact opposite of such a system.
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Posted by: stuartmr | July 30, 2012 2:52 PM
So this report tells me as a plan sponsor to just jack up the premiums and give larger discounts for achieving health goals. Same end game but different optics to the uninformed.
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Posted by: David G | July 30, 2012 2:18 PM
Wow! So much for accountability in our country not to mention incongruity. Does anyone else see the contradiction in these statements? "with 62% opposing charging employees more for health coverage if they do not participate in wellness programs. Over 80% of employees favor offering a financial reward to employees who meet specific health goals but only 29% favor charging employees more for health coverage if they don't meet health goals. " Help me understand this. It is OK to give employees a discount if they practice wellness which I agree with this being how it should be marketed! So if healthy employees get a discount (which I support), by definition unhealthy employees are paying more. As Arsenio Hall used to say, "Hmmm!"
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Posted by: daplus4 | July 30, 2012 2:02 PM
This is one reason why healthcare cost so much....insulation from pricing/cost and third party payment. These numbers shouldn't surprise anyone, but employers shouldn't heed these numbers either. Employer's message needs to morph to "you want to be unhealthy, that's your business so do it on your dime." "If you want our help, subsidy and programs, then you WILL comply with X,Y & Z"
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Posted by: S Miller | July 30, 2012 1:40 PM
Agree completely. If Employers were not driving the issue of paying attention to your health, the levels woudl be worse along with the associated costs!
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Posted by: Lydia S | July 30, 2012 11:42 AM
The results of this study are not at all surprising. The degree of self-entitlement in this country is only exceeded by the level of obesity and related illnesses that cost the economy billions of dollars. I could go on, but won't.
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