Reuters Money
Get healthy, with help from your employer
Consultant Joe Ellis tries to maintain a healthy lifestyle. He doesn’t smoke, keeps his weight in check and gets to the gym when he can. But last year, he decided he needed to do more.
As a senior vice president in the Plymouth Meeting, Pa., office of CBIZ, he advises small companies about methods they can use to control their healthcare costs — including putting wellness plans in place. So he decided to walk the talk and enroll in a wellness plan himself.
For six months in 2010, Ellis chatted by phone with a health coach, who taught him how to read food labels and got him started on a four-times-a-week workout routine. Ellis’ body fat percentage dropped from 21 percent to 17 percent. “I found myself feeling a little sharper,” he says. And by adhering to the program, he’s saving $500 a year on his health-plan premium. “That’s worth getting to the gym for,” he says.
Americans are finding an increasing array of options for getting fit, and their employers are making it worth their while, with premium discounts, gym memberships — and sometimes even cold, hard cash. The trend is being driven by a number of factors, not the least of which is a pressing need for employers to lower their healthcare bills. Helping employees stop smoking, lose weight and manage their stress can pay off, Ellis says. “For every dollar they spend [on wellness], they’re saving $3 to $5.”
The new health reform law will likely encourage more companies to institute and expand wellness programs. The law provides $200 million in grants over the next five years to companies with fewer than 100 employees that want to start wellness programs. And under the law, all companies can now provide financial incentives for wellness participation of 30 percent of the total cost of insuring their employees — up from 20 percent before.
In a November 2010 survey by New York City HR consulting firm Buck Consultants, 66 percent of companies reported having a wellness strategy. And 12 percent of companies without one said they’d develop one in the next two years. Barry Hall, a principal with Buck, says these programs have evolved from simple gym discounts to full-blown programs that are offered to all employees regardless of health status.
Some companies have put employees in teams and started “Biggest Loser”-style weight-loss competitions. Others are giving cash rewards based on factors such as percentage of weight lost or cholesterol lowering. “Today’s employers are trying to figure out how they can get all employees engaged in a healthier lifestyle,” Hall says.
The Prairie State pestilence: Pensions, budget woes spread
The fiscal malady that plagues Illinois — and its painful treatment — may be coming to a state, county or municipality near you.
What will cure this spreading pox on the populace? Higher taxes, lower spending and that rare commodity: political honesty.
I feel the pain since I live in Illinois and will pay higher taxes. This couldn’t be more personal to me. My daughters’ school district is owed state money and has fired teachers. My father’s teachers’ pension fund (among others) has been methodically underfunded for years. I went down to our state capitol last year with other University of Illinois alumni to lobby the state legislature to pay more than $400 million in unpaid education bills.
The Prairie State’s teaching moment was ignited by the Illinois legislature’s passage on January 11 of a tax increase that will raise $6.8 billion for state coffers and impose spending limits. The personal income tax will climb from three percent to five percent; the corporate levy from seven percent from 4.8 percent. It’s a mere finger in the dike as the state still needs to borrow to cover pension obligations. The rates may ratchet down over time.
Sad as this may sound, the Chicago Cubs have been managed better than the Illinois budget. The state was running a $13 billion budget deficit, which could balloon to $15 billion; it was in the worst fiscal shape of any state. Its shortfall was nearly twice that of California, which has nearly three times the population.
As a taxpayer, I’m outraged that things got this bad. As a citizen, though, I still want education to be fully funded, public-employee pensions to be honored and my state to invest heavily in infrastructure and job-creating programs.
While Illinois is a poster child for horrendous fiscal management, other states and municipalities are hurting in a similar way. Banking analyst Meredith Whitney says 50 to 100 municipalities may file for bankruptcy. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently echoed that concern.
Your suggestion would be like a family one day away from foreclosure saying lets cancel HBO and lets switch to store brand foods. The numbers are enormous in Illinois, Chicago, and all the large cities like Peoria. Massive bankrupticie must occur and no bailout should happen. Illinois was just a 30 year party of govt workers and teachers ripping off the system..i read this every day. And although i voted for Obama(my first Dem vote)I am starting to realize the Illinois system disqualifies anyone from holding national office. I probably should have read your book before the election.
