Managing Your Human Capital - 2009 Trends and Predictions
Contact Information:
Renzie L. Richardson, CEO
Health & Wellness Consultant
Be Healthy for Life, LLC
http://www.be-healthy-for-life.com
Mobile: (404) 819-9549
Fax: (404) 418-6968
2009 Health and Wellness Trends
In 2008, employers spent, on national health expenditures, a total of 6.9 percent - two times the rate of inflation. In 2009, the rate of increase is expected to between 9 and 10.5 percent for employers, and more than the rate of inflation and what employees can expect in salary increases. Employers will apply more authority to shift and share this cost.
Because of these trends, employers of all sizes are exploring ways to manage this cost while balancing doing "more with less", reducing the healthcare burden toll and maximizing employee performance to achieve business objectives. In this economy, HR professionals and benefit administrators will be expected to drive costs down and offer tangible solutions that can deliver evidence.
Health and Wellness - Play or You Pay
Fit for Duty
This slogan is more than a term used by the Marines - your health quotient is just as important as your intelligent quotient. Talent for hire will find that employers will exercise more authority and policy to contain healthcare costs. More employers will less likely to hire you if you are obese, use drugs or smoke, and will guard the gate to select who comes on board. "Fit for Duty" is the new talent search. More job interviews will include basic activity to measure how job candidates respond to physical stress.
If you are on board, you will also feel the pinch. Employees who are high risk, unhealthy and refuse to participate in the company's wellness program, it is more likely that you will be at risk to be fired, fined, earned less pay, pay a higher premium for health insurance, be denied participation, or be required to participate in the company's health and wellness program as a condition of employment. With the exception of conditions that are applicable to ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act, there are very few federal and state laws that prohibits the employer from setting these types of policies. More employers will exercise their authority to contain healthcare and injury related costs.
Disease Management and Absenteeism
Doing "more with less" will still be the trend while US companies take measures to ride out the "melt down." Companies will no longer consider unscheduled leave as negligible, and will spend more time tracking and measuring the impact of unscheduled sick days and absences on productivity. In a recent Mercer survey, the total cost of absence can equal as much as 36% of payroll, which can be as much as $1 million for a mid-size business. The actual cost is much more, coupled with scheduled leave that can cost a mid-size employer as much as $4.5 million per year, and the increased cost of health care.
More employers will turn to wellness programs, supplementation, and health education to control costs and contain plan utilization. Strategies will be evaluated to integrate health and wellness, HR policy design, worker's compensation, and health insurance to reduce loss time work. Health Coaches and Personal Trainers will provide more ancillary services, coupled with online technology resources.
Health Provider Wellness Plans
In the last year, health insurance wellness plans experienced significant growth, but most employers have not seen a significant decrease in health premiums. In 2009, premiums are forecast to increase between 6 to 9 percent. With the growth of participation in health insurance plans, employers will continue to receive marginal savings - sickness is profitable for the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries.
Current market conditions will create opportunity for independent advocates for health and wellness, who will partner with employers and consumers to manage their health risk data. While there are no laws that prohibits insurance companies from using consenting data collected from health risk assessments and health fairs, benefit administrators and HR professionals have to be more astute in disclosing information and forming relationships that do not serve the best interest of the employer.
In 2009 and beyond, employers will rely on health and wellness, disease management and prevention programs to pivot costs. HSAs and personal wellness plans will become increasingly popular in the workplace and for consumers who want to benefit from the savings of a healthy lifestyle.
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About the author
Renzie Richardson, Independent Health and Wellness Consultant, Be Healthy for Life, LLC. For more information, call (404) 819-9549 or email at renzier@be-healthy-for-life.com
Posted by Renzie Richardson at 1/9/2009 3:06 PM 
Categories: Wellness, Productivity, Performance, Benefits
Categories: Wellness, Productivity, Performance, Benefits
This is a good article: I was 180LB 5 yrs ago and I lost all that weight to 120Lb.
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