ORLANDO, Fla.-An investment of more than $100,000 annually by one credit union in an employee wellness program is expected to generate more than double that in savings this year, and more than $400,000 annually in coming years.
The $1.2-billion Royal Credit Union rolled out the wellness program in 2007, and requires any employee (and spouse) covered by its insurance to participate. It has in the past year tweaked the program to add a surcharge for non-participants.
"It really takes a CEO who wants to do this. But we also had to persuade some of our management team," noted Schem, whose credit union has a self-funded medical plan that pays out approximately $2 million annually in claims.
The first question a credit union must ask itself in installing a wellness program is does it want to measure using predictive modeling or expected outcomes, according to Schem.
In Royal CU's case, it brought in an outside vendor to begin with Health Risk Assessments (HRAs) for employees.
"This is one of the key elements to doing a full-blown program because you need someone to do base biometrics," Schem said. Those include blood draws, body mass index analysis, weight and height measurements, and an inventory of lifestyles that affect health.
"We did our first round of HRAs in 2007 and found 10 people with life-threatening conditions that they didn't know they had," reported Schem in remarks before the recent annual meeting of the CUNA HR, Training & Development Council. "Ideally all visits are done at your workplace. Our rule is that if you are in our medical program, you have to be enrolled in the wellness program-you don't have to be active-as does your spouse. Employees who are not in our medical plan can sometimes join in on certain activities."
A key to making all of this work, said Schem, who acknowledged pushback from some employees, is "this team and challenge thing. That's huge. You can't underestimate how much value there is in having them fight the battle for you."
Royal CU has a wellness committee that has a representative from each of its locations. "They meet with the vendor and HR department and review past activities and the next 12 to 18 months," he explained. "The wellness vendor also brings in the biometrics across the group for review."
Royal CU offers financial incentives for participating, beginning with a 10% discount in medical premiums if both the employee and spouse (if in the medical plan) are active participants.
"We allowed everyone to get the discount at the start," said Schem. "But after six months we do the look-back, and do so every six months. If the employee has not met the qualifiers for the discount, we turn it off for the next six months."
What counts as an "activity" or participating? RCU has two phyical challenges and one educational session in a six-month period. Employees must do one of each, and can also sign up for online educational tools, with the vendor tracking activities.
Schem urged credit unions to beware that in some cases financial incentives are restricted by the Department of Labor (www.dol.gov/ebsa.regs/fab20082.html). "We don't see any of the medical data about individuals, just see the aggregate, to avoid legal restrictions."
Royal CU is still relatively new in its wellness program so historical performance data is thin. After observing that from 2007 to 2009 there was a decline in participation, surveys revealed larger discounts would encourage more participation. It increased the premium discounts, and participation grew to 90% of employees from 60%.
"And on January 1 of this year we went from a 10% discount to a 20% surcharge if you don't participate," Schem said. "Was that a big deal? Yes. But participation is back on the rise; 61 new adults have enrolled."
