I am writing to applaud Penn State for its leadership and commitment to its employees and wellness initiative.
The University administration is committed to creating a culture of wellness, one that supports staying healthy. Engaging employees in their health care is essential to improving employee health and wellness and in managing the cost of benefits in order to sustain employer sponsored health care benefits long into the future.
Penn State, like many other customers we serve, has been faced with escalating health care costs that are not sustainable on a long term basis. Accordingly, many of our group customers, and Highmark Health Services itself, have used wellness initiatives during the past decade with great success. As an example, Gannett Fleming, a Camp Hill- based international engineering company with 60 offices across the country, has a similar initiative to support biometric screenings and online health risk. They report about two-thirds of employees have participated.
There are many studies that support these initiatives. A rigorous four-year published study of a worksite wellness program yielded an ROI of $1.65 for every dollar spent. Another published study demonstrated a 15 percent slower rate of health care costs among 47 employer group customers and 10,000 matched wellness participants.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 70 percent of all chronic conditions that we endure are preventable. Think about that for a minute. The average healthcare expenses of an inactive person are about $285 per year more than an active person. Smokers cost an average of $1,800 more a year than non-smokers. These wellness programs help improve lifestyles and save money. They support positive behavior changes that can help employees enjoy healthier lives.
We have heard concerns about privacy and security. Highmark Health Services and the vendors we use to help support our efforts, including WebMD Health Services, are strictly required to adhere to federal and state laws applicable to privacy and security standards. For example, all member information must be maintained on secure servers with access limited to those who need it for business purposes, such as use by a Highmark Health Services health coach to support a member with a chronic illness.
Employee wellness initiatives such as the one Penn State is developing are often a catalyst for many employees to take action. This is a creative approach and one that requires people to work together so the University is able to maintain these benefits.