The Importance Of Wellness Programs In The Workplace

Employee’s benefits are the reward for compensating workers. Health benefits are a part of compensation for employees. Organizations globally have complained about the high cost of employees insurances benefits. Due to the high cost in insurance benefits Wellness Programs have been implemented in organization globally. The cost of Health Insurance has become a great factor in organizations throughout the world. There are numerous chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol and obesity etc., all of which stems from the lack of healthy choices and lack of exercise. Because of poor health habits or chooses employees becomes sick. This causes employees to slow down which decreases their production in the workplace. Absenteeism

This research paper will indicate the important of Wellness Programs in the Workplace. One of the most recent extensive studies of workplace wellness programs in the U.S. was conducted by the RAND Corporation in 2013 in an effort funded by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labour. The report investigates the characteristics of workplace wellness programs, their prevalence, their impact on employee health and medical cost, facilitators of their success and the role of incentives in such programs (n.d.). The results from this research indicated that fewer than half of the employees in the firms surveyed undergo clinical screening which is used to identify employees for interventions. Participation in a wellness program over five years is associated with lower health care costs and decreasing health care use. With these factors this clearly indicates wellness programs are important in the

According to The New England of Medicine “Its enactment may constitute the most important event of the Obama presidency and could fundamentally affect the future of health care in the United States. he law has improved the availability of health insurance by means of a variety of mechanisms. First, as of February 15, 2015, when the most recent open-enrollment period ended, 11.7 million Americans had selected a health plan through the health insurance marketplaces. Critical to making that insurance affordable are federal subsidies for which 87% of marketplace customers have qualified.6 The legality of these subsidies in the states where the federal government operates insurance marketplaces is now before the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule on the matter soon”(n.d.). According Insurance Journal “many other employers have similar programs, though there has been debate over how far they can go. While Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act allowed employers to increase financial incentives for employee participation, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission under President Barack Obama has sued companies, including Honeywell, arguing that they violated the Americans with Disabilities Act”. This is a clear indication that employers can increase financial incentives for employee