Business Journal
beaumont
Get healthy, get paid
Vitality Wellness offers real incentives
for cleaning up your act
BY JILL SWANSON
BUSINESS JOURNAL
Business owners and employees list health-
care costs as one of their greatest concerns
today. Debate rages on, even after — or es-
pecially after — the passage of President
Barack Obama’s health-care plan. The bot-
tom line is that health insurance costs will
not go down until Americans’ overall health
improves, according to Kerry Kisslinger,
state director for Lifestyle Health Plans.
Lifestyle Health Plans is a third-party
administrator of health insurance plans,
with a twist. They have partnered with a
select group of health-care providers to of-
fer coverage that meets the needs of
employers and employees, often at a
5-15 percent savings over the cur-
rent plan.
Members receive what is consid-
ered standard health coverage in-
cluding wellness visits and annual
physicals, physician office co-pay
options, access to national and re-
gional network providers and na-
tional pharmacy benefit programs
for generic, preferred brand and
other brand name prescriptions
through a tiered co-pay system.
The twist is that Lifestyle
Health Plans offers rewards
for employees who make
changes in their lifestyle that re-
sult in better health. Through Vi-
tality Wellness, Lifestyles works
to encourage its’ members to
take an active role in their
health maintenance. Healthier
employees translate into health
insurance savings for an employer.
“The unique thing about Vitality through
Lifestyle Health Plans is that normally you
would need to be a very large company
with a minimum of 700 employees to even
obtain Vitality,” said Kisslinger. “Through
Lifestyle, however, we can offer Vitality to
Texas employers with as few as two employ-
ees.”
Vitality Wellness offers “Vitality Bucks”
to persons who meet health goals that the
individual sets with the help of a Health
Risk Assessment. After identifying poten-
tial or actual health problems, personal goals
are set. For example, rather than telling
someone to lose 100 pounds and come back
for your reward, Vitality counselors work
to set smaller more manageable goals,
maybe 12 pounds in three
months. Vitality Bucks are
awarded throughout the
weight-loss process to keep
motivation high.
Incentives are also given for
a variety of healthy choices. In
addition to weight loss, lower-
ing blood pressure and cholesterol
levels, rewards are given for getting
a flu shot, yearly checkups, regular
physical activity and becoming to-
bacco free.
Vitality Wellness, with 2 million
members worldwide, has been avail-
able in the United States for two years.
They also operate in South Africa, the
United Kingdom and have plans to ex-
pand into China. Stuart Slutzy,
senior vice president of product
development, says the great-
est success stories are the ones
where the changes have been
life saving.
“Many of our participants are able to
prevent a pre-condition from developing
into a life threatening disease, stop taking
medications or begin to enjoy a more ac-
tive lifestyle,” he said. “There are 14 risks
and conditions that Vitality monitors with
personalized assessments and incentives. A
few years ago the idea of offering rewards
for healthy living was scoffed at. Today,
as health care costs are
on the rise in relation to
preventable health issues,
people are starting to see
the benefit of what we
do.”
Participants can re-
deem their Vitality Bucks
for a variety of prizes including televisions,
video game systems, iPods, digital camera,
travel discounts and so much more. Friendly
competition and support is not unusual as
members work to improve their health.
For members who need to quit smoking,
enrollment in the Free & Clear Quit for
Life program is offered through the health
plan at no additional charge. The support
program is designed with the individual’s
success in mind. The member receives un-
limited access to a “quit coach” through
a toll-free number or online during the
6-month program, one-year phone coach-
ing and lifetime access to online assistance
after that. Medication therapy such as nico-
tine gum or patches, if deemed appropriate,
is delivered to the home.
Lifestyle Health members have access to
physicians through telephone or e-mail to
cover common conditions or answer ques-
tions. This can save time, money and a trip
to the emergency room or doctor’s office.
Mental health benefits are available with an
employee assistance plan that provides con-
fidential assistance via telephone. Help with
stressful life situations can reduce absentee-
ism and personnel turnover and increase
productivity.
The employee assistance program also
provides identity theft protection, credit
counseling and will preparation. Dental and
vision care plans are available through Life-
styles Health Plans, as well.
“We believe Vitality along with our health
coaching program holds the key to control-
ling health-care costs,” said Kisslinger. “We
feel we have to better educate employees
and provide them with the proper tools and
incentives to live a healthier lifestyle and in
turn reduce health-care costs.” ■