Truck Parts and Service | Heavy Duty Trucking, Aftermarket, Service Info
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15 Cover Story ealing with employee health is a major aspect of running a busi- ness. Everybody gets sick, but that doesn't mean it isn't frustrat- ing to see productivity wane due to health-related employee absences. But in spite of that age-old problem, many businesses remain reactive to employee health and wellness. By shifting your focus to proactive health and wellness programs, you can create a work environment that helps minimize sick days, medical leave and the productivity losses they create. Here are fi ve benefi ts to adding health and wellness programs in your business. Lower insurance costs Healthy employees can have a two-fold benefi t on business costs. One advantage many business owners are searching for today in the wake of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is healthcare. Healthy people cost less to insure. "There's a defi nite advantage for businesses to make sure their low-risk employees stay healthy and/or their high-risk employees become health- ier," says Brett Aprati, district manager at Interactive Health, an indepen- dently owned wellness company. Signed into law in 2010, the ACA requires all business with 50 or more full-time equivalent (FTE) employees to offer health insurance. Businesses with less than 50 FTE employees are not required to provide insurance, but must allow uninsured employees to purchase insurance from govern- ment exchange programs. The ACA also has lowered the maximum range for premiums and eliminated the option for insurance providers to withhold coverage to customers with pre-existing conditions. The changes have caused rates to rise. Businesses are now starting to fi ght back, says Steve Gregory, vice president of health and wellness at Shepherd Insurance. As a major insurer in the heavy-duty dealer market, Shepherd Insurance has seen a large number of its customers turn to wellness programs to combat growing premiums, Gregory says. "There's so much motivation to do this," he says. And Aprati says the ACA hasn't just motivated businesses. Employees are also seeing how their well-being impacts their rates. "For better or worse, [ACA] is making a lot of people more informed about how they handle their health and shop for healthcare," he says. Better employee attendance The second fi nancial benefi t of workplace health programs comes from a reduction in health-related absences. Improving the overall health of your team reduces sick days, medical leave, workplace injuries and compensa- tion claims, says Gregory. "Health plans in America today are really more like sick plans," he says. "Most of us don't use them until we are sick … Getting people to be W W W . T R U C K P A R T S A N D S E R V I C E . C O M J u n e 2 0 1 4 | T R U C K P A R T S & S E R V I C E