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According to a recent employer survey by the nonprofit National Business Group on Health and Fidelity Investments, corporate employers plan on spending an average of $521 per employee on wellness-based incentives in 2013. This marks a 13% increase from the average of $460 per employee in 2011 and almost doubles the per employee average from 2009.
The survey also found that the overall use of these incentives among corporate employers continues to increase. 86% of employers surveyed indicated that they offered wellness-based incentives.
The most populate wellness-based incentives continue to be:
A large majority of employers (54%) have also expanded their wellness-based incentives to include dependents as well. As part of the wellness incentives, employer are requiring employees to complete a health activity- like an employer sponsored biometric screening or health risk assessment- in order to determine their eligibility for the company’s health plans in 2013. Some employers are even taking steps as far informing employees that their failure to complete a health risk assessment may result in the employee being moved automatically into a less attractive medical plan offered by the company or even completely being removing them from the health coverage.
Forty-one percent of employers include, or plan to include, an outcomes based metrics as part of their incentive program. This will give both the employer and employees a measurable goal that can be used to reward behavior or results in certain health categories, such as lowering cholesterol or blood pressure or their waist line.