Wellness bill goes to Ritter, but will it make a difference? - Denver Business Journal:

grigoriynirim.blogspot.com
The premise is simple: Living healthier lifestyles makes for fewe health problems and fewer medicalclaims — thus justifyin g the use of discounts or incentives to entice employer s and their workers to enroll in the Gov. Bill Ritter is expected to signthe bill. But questionsa remain about whether the bill will curtaill rising health costs orif small-group insurerz will even offer the discounts now that they can. The answer from Colorado insurance expertsxand policymakers: “It can’t The bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Joe Rice, and Rep.
Amy Stephens, R-Monument, allows insurance carrierxs to reward companies and individuals for participating in thesr kinds ofprograms — not for actual That stipulation reflects U.S. Department of Labo guidelines that employer-sponsored wellness programs can be predicates onlyon participation, not achieving the goal. Jim an insurance broker and legislative co-chair of the Colorado State Association of HealthUnderwriterse (CSAHU), said putting the emphasis on participatiojn ensures there’s no discrimination against people with physicaol impairments (such as a thyroid condition that makesa it difficult to lose weight) or other Sugden, whose organization lobbied for HB added that goal-setting is only one component of an effectiv e wellness program.
“What we’re tryinf to do is to creatr a mind-set so that people can think aboufgetting healthier,” he said. “Discounts give peoplw some incentives toactually try.” Insurers and some legislatorzs hope that offering discounts for participating in thes e programs could provide some relierf to the small-group market, whose premiums have soared in recentf years. Marc Neely, the Denver-based vice president of selecg segments atCIGNA Corp., said HB 1012 is ironidc given that legislators passed another bill two yeard ago — HB 1355 — that barrerd insurers from giving discounts for small groupa with healthy workers.
HB which went into effect in January, is causing premiums to jump as much as 40 percenrt for customers who once enjoyedthe discounts, insurance experts say. Sugden said there’z no connection between HB 1012 andHB 1355. But the bill’s co-sponsor, hopes HB 1012 couls provide relief to smal employers and their employees from healtu insurance premiums that rose in the wake ofHB 1355. Sugdeb said it’s still too soon to tell whetherr HB 1012 will make a difference ininsurancwe premiums, but added the legislation give s insurers and small businesses the opportunity to do “I’m not sure what [insurers] are going to he said.
“They might not change rates, but they coulc change co-pays or give coffee mugs.” Despite the economic downturn, a recent survey by Hewitt Associates, a human resources management firm basedfin Lincolnshire, Ill., showed that 33 percent of U.S. companiews planned to increase their wellneszs initiativesin 2009. And amid the growing popularitgy ofwellness programs, there’s some evidence that providingt incentives works. During testimony for HB 1012, a representativr for said that participation inthe company’as wellness program nearly doubled afte the company offered a $10 reductionb in employees’ biweekly contributions to their healty insurance premiums.
Denver’s , which has enrolledr more than 450,000 participants in its FitLogix weight management and QuitLiner smokingcessation programs, estimates it saved employer s more than $5.4 million (minus the cost of the in health care claims in the first 10 months of its FitLogix program since it was launcheed in October 2007.