Companies Are Paying Employees To Stay Healthy

Source: New York Post, John Aidan Byrne
Photo: Helayne Seidman

Corporate America is handing out huge cash bonuses this year to workers who hit the gym and knock off pounds.

Call it their pound of flesh. Skyrocketing health-care costs are forcing more American employers to reward workers for good health, which often translates into fewer doctor visits and lower health-care insurance premiums.

And this “carrot and stick,” popularly known as preventative care, may be one of the hottest health-care workplace trends in 2018, according to analysts.

This battle of the bulge can be waged profitably. Just ask Laura Mahony, whose employer’s monthly $200 cash bonus — a generous $2,400 annually for keeping fit — allows her to avail herself of a variety of healthy activities in high-cost New York City.

“The bonus is added by direct deposit to my paycheck and can be used for anything health-related, including weight-loss programs, massages and workout classes,” said Mahoney, 29, a coach at Moon, which offers professional wellness services.

“I mainly use the bonus for different gyms, which otherwise would be costly for me, and I probably would not be able to join,” she added.

Her Moon colleague, Peter Athans, who is based in New Paltz, pays for special dietary drinks and gym memberships with his monthly $200 bonus.

When the blue skies and long summer days return to his upstate home, Athans, 36, hits the local trails and signs up for races and sports challenges paid for by his monthly reward. He simply submits his receipts as proof.

“It all helps me maintain a much healthier lifestyle and stay in good condition,” Athans said.

“I have seen employers offering up to $4,000 a year to individual employees for better health,” said health-care entrepreneur David Roddenberry. “In dollar figures, the sums are certainly quite big. But employers are already spending so much on health care that the bonus rewards come in at 5 to 10 percent of some companies’ health-care budgets today.”

More companies are directly paying the cost out of pocket even as insurance benefit plans sometimes cover wellness programs.

It’s money well spent, according to the analysts.

US health-care costs today consume nearly 18 percent of the gross domestic product, or more than $3 trillion annually, compared with 7 percent of GDP, or $1.37 trillion, in 2000. The cost of health insurance for the average American has soared from $4,857 per individual in 2000 to about $10,000 now.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that more companies, with the help of software programs and health-care experts, are offering big bonuses, free gym memberships and other rewards to employees who shape up.

Photo Caption: Co-workers Peter Athans and Laura Mahoney, who get bonuses for staying healthy.

https://nypost.com/2018/01/20/companies-are-paying-employees-to-stay-healthy