Wellness

When President Barack Obama criticized Mitt Romney by name this week for embracing a controversial Republican budget proposal, he worded his attack carefully and with bite.

Wellness and health management programs can be scaled to fit the needs of companies of almost any size, as long as you have the data to help identify what the needs are. In today’s BeAdvised Mercer’s George Lane shares three simple programs that will not only heighten awareness of health issues to employees but will send the message that their employer’s concern for them extends beyond what’s included in their job description.

Between 2003 and 2006, Standard Textile – a company that manufactures textiles and apparel for a variety of industries, including health care and hospitality – watched its benefits costs per employee jump by 60%. That got the attention of the CEO and the company embarked on a more aggressive health and wellness journey.

Between 2003 and 2006, Standard Textile – a company that manufactures textiles and apparel for a variety of industries, including health care and hospitality – watched its benefits costs per employee jump by 60%. That got the attention of the CEO and the company embarked on a more aggressive health and wellness journey.

The White House was forced on the defensive on Wednesday as it sought to explain controversial remarks President Barack Obama made earlier in the week about the Supreme Court's review of his signature health care reform law.

There has been a lot of information in the news about health care reform and how it affects small businesses. Yet, I still find many business owners scratching their heads trying to understand what it all means for their businesses. To simplify matters, here are five things small employers must know about employee health benefits—especially in a post-health care reform environment:

For most Americans, what they saw and heard surrounding the historic hearings on health care reform last week hasn’t changed their opinion of the law or the Supreme Court.

What better way to take lessons of branding a wellness program than from one of the top-branded companies in the world, Procter and Gamble? The producers of timeless product lines like Old Spice and Tide recently introduced Vibrant Living, P&G’s in-house line of benefits specially designed to help employees live healthier.

While more companies today are focusing on wellness programs as a way to cut health care costs, Ed Jones, president of commercial division at ValueOptions, told attendees at the Institute for Health and Productivity Management conference that adding behavioral health clinicians to the mix can yield even greater returns on overall employer investments in health care and wellness.

China may be on the forefront of economic development, but it has a long way to go in providing health care for its hundreds of millions of workers, according to Hocking Cheng, managing director for health management solutions in China for Aetna. Such health care woes may haunt U.S. multinationals that have to contend with employee wellness issues at home and abroad.