More Employers Turn to Wellness Incentive Programs To Trim Rising Health Care Costs

To address rising health care costs, many employers are trying out new programs that offer incentives to workers who maintain healthy lifestyles.

Such programs typically give discounts on premiums or other financial incentives to workers who fill out health questionnaires, obtain preventive screenings or participate in weight-loss programs.

In a California Healthline Special Report by Kelly Wilkinson, experts discussed factors contributing to the growing trend of wellness incentive programs.

The Special Report includes comments from:

Tom Hubbard, senior program director for the New England Healthcare Institute;
Steven Noeldner, a partner at Mercer Health & Benefits; and
Joe Woods, CEO of HumanaVitality (Wilkinson, California Healthline, 11/16).

The complete transcript of this Special Report is available as a PDF.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>More Employers Turn to Wellness Incentive Programs To Trim Rising Health Care Costs</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2011-11-16T00:00:00-08:00">
			November 16, 2011		</time>
		</div>
<p>To address rising health care costs, many employers are trying out new programs that offer incentives to workers who maintain healthy lifestyles.</p><p>Such programs typically give discounts on premiums or other financial incentives to workers who fill out health questionnaires, obtain preventive screenings or participate in weight-loss programs.</p><p>In a <i>California Healthline </i>Special Report by Kelly Wilkinson, experts discussed factors contributing to the growing trend of wellness incentive programs.</p><p>The Special Report includes comments from:</p><ul><li>Tom Hubbard, senior program director for the New England Healthcare Institute; </li><li>Steven Noeldner, a partner at Mercer Health & Benefits; and </li><li>Joe Woods, CEO of HumanaVitality (Wilkinson, <i>California Healthline</i>, 11/16).</li></ul><p>The complete transcript of this Special Report is <a href="https://www.kff.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2011/11/chlspecialreporttranscript111611.pdf">available as a PDF</a>.</p><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p>

Some elements may be removed from this article due to republishing restrictions. If you have questions about available photos or other content, please contact khnweb@kff.org.