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From the Editor
Editor's Notes Mar/Apr 2010
Integrating Financial Incentives for
Workplace Health Promotion into Programs
Health Plan Premiums Is the Best Idea
Since Sliced Bread
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Current Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
regulations allow employers to offer a
20% differential in health plan premiums
charged to employees who either meet a
health goal—like not smoking, achieving
a recommended body mass index (BMI)
level, high density lipoprotein
cholesterol (HDL) level, blood pressure,
or similar measure—or participate in a
health promotion program.1
For example, if the total cost of the
health premium for an individual was
$5000, and the employer paid 70% of the
total premium, all employees would have
annual premiums of $1500 (30% of $5000
is $1500). With differential premiums,
employees who met the health goal or
participated in the program would have
premiums of $1000 per year (20% of
$5000), whereas employees who did
neither would have premiums of $2000 per
year (40% of $5000). A handful of
employers have implemented premium
differential programs like this with the
goal of controlling their medical costs
and motivating employees to improve
their health. However, most employers
are reluctant to implement these premium
differential programs because their
authority to do this is established
through HIPAA regulations, not through
legislative statute. Employers are
concerned that the regulations could
change at any time with short notice.
Read Morev
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Conference
Update:
Keynotes Announced |
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James
Fowler, PhD
Connected! The Surprising
Power of Our Social Networks and How
They Shape Our Lives |
David Bornstein
How to Change the World |
David
Hunnicutt, PhD
What
Indeed Does Work Good, Better, Best?
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Definition of Health Promotion
Health Promotion is the art and science of
helping people discover the synergies between
their core passions and optimal health,
enhancing their motivation to strive for optimal
health, and supporting them in changing their
lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal
health. Optimal health is a dynamic balance of
physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and
intellectual health. Lifestyle change can be
facilitated through a combination of learning
experiences that enhance awareness, increase
motivation, and build skills and, most
important, through the creation of opportunities
that open access to environments that make
positive health practices the easiest choice.
O’Donnell MP. Definition of health promotion
2.0: embracing passion, enhancing motivation,
recognizing dynamic balance, and creating
opportunities. Am J Health Promot. 2009
Sept-Oct;24(1):iv.
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Physical |
Fitness.
Nutrition. Medical self-care. Control of substance abuse. |
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Emotional |
Care for
emotional crisis. Stress Management |
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Social |
Communities.
Families. Friends |
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Intellectual |
Educational.
Achievement. Career development |
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Spiritual |
Love. Hope.
Charity. |
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Our definition of health promotion guides the editorial content
of all of our publications.v
read more
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