Instituting Employee Wellness Program for Mobile County

Instituting Employee Wellness Program for Mobile County

A proposal for healthcare program change

C.Abrams

HRM

Finance and the Administration of Public Funds

Proposal Summary:

In an effort to increase the overall productivity of county agencies with Mobile County, an Employee Wellness Program needs to be included in the budget period for the fiscal year 2013. Mobile County has experienced rising healthcare costs annually for its 1,500 employees, and is expecting to pay $15 million for claims in 2012.

The purpose for instituting a wellness program aims to reduce healthcare costs, increase overall agency performance and productivity, and improve overall health and well-being of employees spiritually, physically, and mentally,

Statement of the Problem:

For Mobile County, Mobile, AL, the cost of healthcare has risen a steady rate of about six percent due to the lack of wellness among the county's 1,500 employees, which it self-ensures. For 2011, just 11 claims cost the county about $2 million for employees with kidney failure who poorly managed diabetes and high blood pressure. For regular visits or checkups with a family doctor, the county automatically pays $103 per employee or dependent.

Whether wellness exists or not, the public has high demand for services the county offers, such as welfare assistance, job placement assistance, and low-cost healthcare. Since the 2007 recession, the demand for public services has steadily increased and now, in 2012, the demands are still very high. Therefore, it is very important to begin promoting health and wellness among county employees by providing a wellness program to aid employees in bettering their health.

The lack of wellness increases employee absenteeism and presenteeism, decreases employee performance and productivity, and challenges the vitality and performance of the county's agencies.

Approach 1:

One approach to promoting employee wellness include reimbursing employees for annual gym membership fees, building a primary care clinic for county employees and dependents, and promoting a smoke-free work environment.

Reimbursing employees at a rate of one-half annual gym membership fees allows for employees to take a critical introductory step towards physical self improvement. Budgetary requirements assume that each of the 1500 employees purchase annual gym membership for $20/month. At a rate of $120/yr/employee, an estimate for the budget period totals $180,000/yr for reimbursement fees.

Providing a no-cost clinic for county employees would significantly encourage employees to practice preventive care, therefore reducing the number of chronic illnesses, which are especially costly--averaging at about $2 million for just 11 claims in 2011. Building start-up costs about $200,000 and to contain staffing and operations costs, staffing and operations management will be outsourced to a local health system costing $640,000 annually.

In addition, county agencies should promote a smoke-free workplace or assign designated areas for smoking, if necessary to prevent inhalation of second-hand smoke to non-smokers.

The total budget estimates for

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