As plans progress for a new fitness center to be added to the Platinum Mile corridor”™s mix of offices and corporate parks, companies are increasingly offering employees incentives to stay healthy and fit.
Wellness incentives that companies make available to employees range from premium contributions and benefit offerings to co-pay waivers and gift cards, said Sally Kweskin, director of corporate communications at Empire BlueCross BlueShield, which is based in New York City and is the state”™s largest health insurer with 6 million members.
Those same incentives that many companies offer their employees often give the companies”™ revenue numbers a boost as well by cutting down on health care spending, Kweskin said.
“Studies done on this issue point to promising (returns on investments).” She added that companies that see the highest participation levels in wellness programs are often the ones in which company executives help to promote ”“ and participate in ”“ the initiatives.
In a survey conducted by Empire BlueCross BlueShield of 489 employers with at least 1,000 employees, 61 percent of the companies surveyed offered financial incentives to employees for completing a health risk appraisal, 40 percent offered incentives to employees for participating in a smoking-cessation program, and 34 percent offered incentives for participating in a weight-management program.
New fitness center planned
Life Time Fitness Inc., based in Chanhassen, Minn., is under contract to buy the approximately 22-acre property at 1 Gannett Drive in Harrison, where The Journal News is currently headquartered, from Gannett Satellite Information Network Inc.
The town of Harrison Planning Board was scheduled to discuss the site plan review and other required permits at its July 26 meeting, however as of press time, the Business Journal had been unable to reach members of the board.
The fitness company opened its first center in 1992 and currently has 91 gyms in 21 states. The Harrison location will be Life Time”™s second foray into New York, with the first having opened in Syosset back in January.
Life Time works closely with corporations looking to develop wellness programs, said the company”™s director of corporate communications Karen Jayne Leinberger. Earlier this spring, Life Time announced a myHealthCheck program that assesses participants”™ health by identifying risk factors and following up on their progress, noting that corporations that implement such wellness plans can save thousands of dollars in health care expenses per employee per year.
“We offer a variety of initiatives or corporate wellness programs (based on a company”™s number of employees),” Leinberger said. Noting the number of companies near the future Life Time location in Harrison, she said corporate wellness partnerships is “definitely an area that we”™re looking to expand.”
”˜A culture of health”™
In a testament to the success of such wellness programs, IBM Corp. spokeswoman Laurie Friedman said that between 2004 and 2006, the company invested $81 million in wellness programs and witnessed an estimated $190 million return in health-related costs ”“ more than double the initial investment.
“IBM makes these investments not only because the company values the health of its employees, but also because it makes good business sense,” Friedman said.
At IBM, more than 80,000 employees participated in the company”™s Healthy Living Rebate program last year, which provides cash incentives in exchange for participation in wellness initiatives. Friedman said participants could earn up to $300 for eating well, exercising regularly or encouraging their families to pursue healthy lifestyles.
“IBM has a culture of health where employees are encouraged to maintain healthy behaviors and be smart consumers of health services and actively engaged patients,” Friedman said. “Studies show that healthy employees are happier, more productive, and spend less on medical care, a trio of benefits that helps employees, the company, and society at large.”
