Vol. 38, No. 18

1-23-2008
By: Adam King

Your Plan for Health expands employee incentive program

It might have been the money that drew nearly 8,300 faculty and staff into the Your Plan for Health 2007 incentive program. But the fact that many people started or continued to think about their health throughout the year was the true success story, said Larry Lewellen, associate vice president for Human Resources.

Ohio State is intent on continuing that trend in 2008 by expanding the Faculty and Staff Incentive Program to the entire calendar year and adding new activities for which participants can earn points. Each point is equal to $1, with a maximum payout of $125 (minus payroll taxes) per year.

“2007 was an absolute success,” said Lewellen. “Faculty and staff are beginning to truly understand what we are trying to do. We now have thousands of people who are taking a more active interest in their own health status, and many seem to be excited about taking action to improve their quality of life.”

The incentive program paid out $869,711 in 2007, its first year, with 35 percent of eligible employees participating. Sixty-five percent of the 8,287 participants earned 125 points or more.

That money doesn’t include the $10 monthly discount many of those participants will receive this year in their health premiums for taking the Personal Health Assessment, an online wellness and lifestyle questionnaire that asks for an individual’s current health data, including height, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose measurements.

The PHA was optional for last year’s incentive program and taking it earned 50 points. But the PHA is required this year to be eligible to participate in the program and won’t be a point-earning opportunity because individuals can now receive up to $120 savings on their annual medical premiums. Employees are being asked to take the PHA annually, and they can do so anytime during the year to get started in the incentive program.

OSU instituted the incentives as a way to motivate faculty and staff to make better decisions about their health and lifestyle, thus helping to lower its average annual health care cost increases from 10.5 percent to 7 percent. There are already signs it’s working.

Lewellen said there was an immediate $1.5 million to $2 million in savings from employees with chronic conditions using the CareAllies programs. Getting education, improving their self-care and adhering to treatment regimens helped keep them healthier and reduce OSU’s medical costs. But he said the real savings come from keeping healthy individuals from becoming chronic patients.

“Improving health status is not a magic trick that pays off immediately; rather, the approach we are taking will see graduated savings over several years,” Lewellen said.

To make earning points easier, the program added such activities as blood pressure monitoring, getting a flu shot or mist and having additional preventative exams such as a mammogram. Some activities, such as a flu shot received after Oct. 1, will count toward the 2008 program total. A complete list of qualifying activities can be found at yourplanforhealth.com, where employees can also log in to the points tracking system or complete their PHA.

onCampus Home