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Cost-Neutral Ways of Funding a Wellness Program
Cost-Neutral Ways of Funding a Wellness Program
In today’s economic climate, finding the funding for a wellness program can prove to be difficult task. For those of you that are determined to implement a wellness program with little to no funding, here are some ideas that may help.
1. Combine the cost of the wellness program with the employee health insurance premiums.
Instead of having the company pay for the wellness program directly, pass the cost on to the employees. This strategy works because employees are used to seeing annual increases in their share of the insurance premium cost. The additional monthly cost from the wellness program should only increase the premium by a few dollars anyway. While this strategy should provide enough funding to offer a basic wellness program, the company should consider carving out funds in the budget for additional services in subsequent years.
2. Use a “premium differential” incentive strategy so that non-participants fund the program for those that participate.
This is a strategy that has worked with great success for many companies. When open enrollment comes around, announce a $50 per month increase in health insurance premiums for all employees. However, those that choose to participate in the wellness program can have the increase waived. Essentially, those that choose not to participate will fund the wellness program for those that do choose to participate through the $50 per month “premium increase”. The key here is to clearly define what constitutes participation in the wellness program so that everyone understands what is expected of them in order to avoid the premium increase.
3. Take advantage of free wellness services offered by carriers or see if they are willing to foot the bill for some preventive care services.
For those of you that have seen our previous posts about insurance carrier wellness programs, you may be seeing this as a conflicting statement (see previous posts Insurance Carrier Wellness Programs: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and Steer Clear of "One-Size-Fits-All" Wellness Programs). However, there is a time and a place for insurance carrier wellness offerings when there is no budget for workplace wellness services. Explore what your carrier is able to offer you. There may be a few services that you can utilize in order to get your wellness program off the ground. Also, see if your carrier may be willing to cover the cost of certain preventive care services, such as biometric screenings.
Use these ideas to help get your wellness program off the ground and running. Report back results to management to keep them abreast of the success that your bootstrapped wellness program is having. This will increase your chances of getting additional funding for your wellness program in the future as it continues to grow.
1. Combine the cost of the wellness program with the employee health insurance premiums.
Instead of having the company pay for the wellness program directly, pass the cost on to the employees. This strategy works because employees are used to seeing annual increases in their share of the insurance premium cost. The additional monthly cost from the wellness program should only increase the premium by a few dollars anyway. While this strategy should provide enough funding to offer a basic wellness program, the company should consider carving out funds in the budget for additional services in subsequent years.
2. Use a “premium differential” incentive strategy so that non-participants fund the program for those that participate.
This is a strategy that has worked with great success for many companies. When open enrollment comes around, announce a $50 per month increase in health insurance premiums for all employees. However, those that choose to participate in the wellness program can have the increase waived. Essentially, those that choose not to participate will fund the wellness program for those that do choose to participate through the $50 per month “premium increase”. The key here is to clearly define what constitutes participation in the wellness program so that everyone understands what is expected of them in order to avoid the premium increase.
3. Take advantage of free wellness services offered by carriers or see if they are willing to foot the bill for some preventive care services.
For those of you that have seen our previous posts about insurance carrier wellness programs, you may be seeing this as a conflicting statement (see previous posts Insurance Carrier Wellness Programs: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and Steer Clear of "One-Size-Fits-All" Wellness Programs). However, there is a time and a place for insurance carrier wellness offerings when there is no budget for workplace wellness services. Explore what your carrier is able to offer you. There may be a few services that you can utilize in order to get your wellness program off the ground. Also, see if your carrier may be willing to cover the cost of certain preventive care services, such as biometric screenings.
Use these ideas to help get your wellness program off the ground and running. Report back results to management to keep them abreast of the success that your bootstrapped wellness program is having. This will increase your chances of getting additional funding for your wellness program in the future as it continues to grow.
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