GiftCard Partners Blog

vAs employers continue to try to control costs of health insurance benefits they are turning to incentives more and more frequently for their Health & Wellness programs. Incentives motivate employees to evaluate and improve their health, which obviously benefits employees and simultaneously helps lower costs for employers. Aon Hewitt’s recent survey of nearly 2,000 U.S. employers, their combined 20 million U.S. employees and their dependents found that 84% of employers offer employees incentives for participating in a health risk questionnaire (HRQ) and 64 percent offer incentives for biometric screenings to help employees evaluate their health status. 51% of employers provide incentives for participation in health and wellness improvement programs as well. The incentives used here do not need to be big, but rather need to be meaningful. Helping employees maintain their health and reach new health goals can be as simple as offering 
a gift cards to 
CVS/Pharmacy or GNC. A small investment such as this easily provides noticeable ROI  to employers and employees feel support from their employer;
,that their employer cares about them as a person, not just a part of the organization. Bettering your employees' health can often better your bottom line.  
For more information on Aon Hewitt's survey on Health and Wellness Incentives check out this article from Insurance Journal.

The following infographic from
mashable.com shows how obesity, growing ever more prevalent in workplaces across the country, can cost your company valuable money and resources. Implementing health and wellness programs for employees using small incentives, such as gift cards to assist in living a healthy lifestyle, such as the
CVS/Pharmacy Select Card  or a GNC gift card can save your company money and keep your employees healthy, productive, and happy in their jobs. Check out the information below to help prevent obesity in your office.
 

Health and wellness programs help employees engage in healthy behavior which drives down health care costs for the employer. These programs also engage employees with their co-workers and with the organization itself. Health and wellness programs convey support for employees from their employer which helps retention rates, employee productivity, and employee emotional well-being. ComPsych 2012, a newly release wellness trend study  showed the following statistics about employee well-being which further emphasizes the importance of health and wellness programs at work.

As pressure increases on employers and health insurance companies to bring down costs by improving plan participants’ health, insurance companies are developing virtual reality games and inter-organizational competition with real rewards. As employees hit health goals and milestones in gaming portals that can range from basic health tracking and rewards to more social, team based competition applications, health care providers and insurance companies offer rewards. The rewards can range from small denomination gift cards to a much bigger prize like a vacation upon reaching the participant’s desired wellness goals.

Small businesses are increasing implementation of health and wellness programs to lower the ever rising cost of health care coverage. With insurance premiums rising as much as 30% annually, it is becoming essential for small businesses to keep their health care costs low, and keep their employees as healthy as possible. Small businesses tend to use a carrot approach, incenting employees who engage in health and wellness programs, as opposed to a stick approach, which would penalize employees who engage in unhealthy lifestyles. Incentives offered can include monetary bonuses, gift cards to retailers that assist employees in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, as well as other vehicles to support employees' healthy lifestyles. Health and wellness programs have proven that they pay for themselves, with research from Partnerships for Prevention showing that for every $1 a company pays for health and wellness program execution $3.50 is saved in health care coverage costs. This figure is staggering, especially for small businesses who need to manage budgets and expenditures very closely. Additionally, an Israeli study showed that employees who engaged in some form of exercise had lower rates of depression and job burnout, which proves that the benefits of health and wellness programs do not just serve employers but also employees and their interests. Health and wellness programs are growing more and more popular, especially among small businesses. What are you doing to keep your employees healthy?  
To learn more about small business health and wellness check out this article from msnbc.com.