Wellness Programs : Tax Credits for Wellness.
In the near future, the federal government may offer help to companys looking to start a health promotion program. The help would take the form of tax breaks to offset health promotion program costs.
A current United States Senate bill would give corporations a substantial tax break for starting health promotion programs. Dubbed the Healthy Workforce Act, it calls for an corporation tax credit of up to $200 per staff member enrolled in a newly developed health promotion program.
For bigger firms, there is the $200 credit for the first 200 staff members and up to $100 per employee thereafter. To qualify for the full credit, your wellness program would have to feature –
• health risk appraisals
• employee education drives (e.g., targeted mailings, internet based tools)
• behavior modification programs (e.g., tobacco use cessation, weight control, wellness Coaches), and
• “meaningful” participation incentives (e.g., lower co-pays).
Qualified employers would be able to claim the tax credit for up to 10 years after beginning a wellness program.
The bill has enjoyed bipartisan support, but like many things in Washington, the parties disagree over how to fund the cost of the tax credit. As a result, it has been bogged down in committee.
When and when the bill is ratified, employers could claim the federal tax credit the following year.
In the meantime, whether or not your organization already has a formal health promotion program, there are proven ways to make wellness part of the organization culture. Best of all, they don’t have to cost an extra cent.
Health Promotion town meetings
It’s often said that successful health promotion programs start at the top of the corporation. Reason – Employees pick up fast on whether upper-level management practices what it preaches when it comes to wellness.
If the individuals in senior level management are smokers, obese or simply reluctant to talk about health issues, it’s a tough sell to get personnel engaged in taking control of their health.
That’s the idea behind the wellness town meeting.
Once a week (or once a month), everybody in the corporation attends a short meeting to discuss their own recent efforts to get healthier.
Managers typically go first, to break the ice about discussing some potentially sensitive issues like dieting or quitting tobacco use.
In most corporations, the meetings are arranged to encourage casual, free-flowing conversation.
One key – People speak from where they’re seated, rather than standing up front, with all eyes staring at them.
Some businesses take a more formal approach, which may also work. For instance, at Old National Bank in Indiana, folks file into an auditorium to face their worst enemy, the scale.
Each week, everyone at the firm – from seasoned managers to the newest hires – comes in to get weighed. The only one who sees the number on the scale is the individuals getting weighed. Even so, the health promotion program has inspired a lot of folks to lose weight.
Free tests and screenings
While there’s no substitute for having personnel undergo comprehensive health risk assessments, it’s also wise to home in on screening for common conditions that aren’t necessarily lifestyle related.
Example – skin cancer. It’s not just sun worshippers who are at risk of the most common (and in its early stages, treatable) form of cancer. Heredity plays a part. So does luck.
Fortunately, companys can get their staff screened for free. Through the American Academy of Dermatology’s National Melanoma and Skin Cancer Screening program, volunteer doctors perform skin cancer screenings at no cost.
Similarly, other medical associations and public health agencies offer free or nominal-cost screenings for a variety of other common conditions.