Focus on Employees
Healthy Incentives℠
Healthy Incentives℠ is an innovative benefits program that encourages employees and their covered spouse/domestic partners to take ownership of their health. The program, which is part of the King County Health Reform Initiative, provides support for making and maintaining healthy lifestyle choices, practicing preventive care, managing chronic conditions and coordinating care for major illnesses.
King County developed the Healthy Incentives℠ program to:
- Improve the health of employees and their families
- Encourage employees to make healthy lifestyle choices
- Reduce the rate of growth in the cost of the county's medical and prescription drug plans.
Employees and their covered family members continue to receive the same high level of medical coverage they are used to receiving, but the participation of employees and their spouse/domestic partners in Healthy Incentives℠ affects their level of out-of-pocket expenses for medical coverage in the following year. Participation begins with taking a wellness assessment that identifies behaviors that put someone at higher risk for developing a chronic disease such as diabetes, heart disease or coronary artery disease. After taking the wellness assessment, employees and their spouse/domestic partners are given the opportunity to participate in an individual action plan tailored to their risk of developing a chronic disease. A company independent of King County administers the wellness assessment and analyzes it to determine each individual's risk for developing a chronic disease. When individuals are determined to be low risk, they keep a diary of regular exercise or nutrition as their individual action plan. When individuals are determined to be moderate or high risk, they work with a health coach over the phone to engage in activities that can improve their health.
Healthy Incentives℠ has three levels of out-of-pocket expense levels that are determined by participation: gold (lowest level), silver (moderate level) and bronze (highest level). Employees and their spouse/domestic partners who:
Each year, employees and their spouse/domestic partners have the opportunity to take the wellness assessment and complete an individual action plan to receive the lowest out-of-pocket expense level for the following year.
The higher the participation in the Healthy Incentives℠ program, the more likely employees and their spouse/domestic partners will make healthy lifestyle choices and prevent chronic medical conditions. That translates into a longer, better quality of life for employees and their spouses/domestic partners and reduced medical costs for King County.
Currently, about 10 percent of employees and spouse/domestic partners with
chronic and high-risk conditions account for 70 percent of what the county
pays in medical claims. By rewarding healthy behavior, Healthy Incentives℠
helps prevent chronic disease and supports management of chronic diseases
to great benefit. For example, dialysis for kidney failure resulting from
diabetes costs about $66,000 a year, whereas managing diabetes costs about
$13,000 a year.
