NFIB

Healthy Habits
05/ 28/ 2004

by Robin Warsaw

High health-insurance costs aren’t a new phenomenon. Twelve years ago, Ron Rutowski of Creation Technologies (www.creationtech.com) in Oak Creek, Wis., faced yet another round of annual rising premiums. Searching for a stop-gap measure, Rutowski worked with his insurance company to develop a wellness program for the workers at his circuit-board manufacturing company.

A recent study showed that although small businesses offer fewer health promotions than large corporations, their workers are more likely to use them. But all small businesses should encourage healthy habits.

"They’ve got a lot more to lose," says John Harris, of Harris HealthTrends, a wellness consultancy based in Toledo, Ohio. "They’re more negatively impacted by absenteeism, sickness and productivity problems."

Improving your workers’ health may be easier, and cheaper, than you think:

Make them an offer they can’t refuse. Employees of Creation Technologies save on health insurance premiums (shared with their employer) by joining the Hundred Percent Club. Workers earn points for each healthy action they take, such as getting an annual physical exam.

Those who achieve 100 points get a premium reduction from the insurer, as does the employer. "We’ve been able to show a reduction in utilization for those who are in the wellness program," says Rutowski.

A long journey begins with the first step. Walking revs up workers’ good health. Buy inexpensive pedometers and encourage employees to take 10,000 steps a day.

Grab your partner. RDW Group, a Providence, R.I., advertising agency, partners with its health insurer to hold an on-site wellness event. Medical staff from the insurer provide blood pressure and cholesterol screenings, glucose checks and body composition tests. If your business is very small, co-sponsor an event or speaker with other small companies nearby.

Show ’em you’ve got culture. To be effective, wellness programs must fit your business "culture." RDW Group (www.rdwgroup.com) added an employee fitness center. Solicit workers’ ideas and plan based on specific targets -- gentle yoga classes for stress reduction, healthful cooking seminars for slimming down.

Creation Technologies holds team events, organized by work groups, to encourage exercise. Teams pick an activity -- jogging, walking, skipping rope -- and receive small trophies for reaching goals. Added benefit: The events build work-group camaraderie.

The best things in life are (sometimes) free. Contact the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, or local YMCA. Such groups often provide speakers or health-education brochures for low cost or free. For other resource information, contact the non-profit Wellness Councils of America at www.welcoa.org.

Sign Me Up: Learn more on how you as an NFIB member can save up to 60 percent (excluding employer HRA reimbursements) on your current premiums by enrolling in an HSA from Assurant. Contact NFIB HealthBenefits at (888) 488-6266. Sorry, but the plan does not offer HSAs in Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont or Washington.

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This article originally appeared in the June/July 2004 issue of MyBusiness magazine.

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