Tax Credits for Wellness.

In the near future, the federal government might offer help to employers looking to begin a wellness program.  The help would take the form of tax breaks to offset wellness program costs.

A current United States  Senate bill would give companys a substantial tax break for starting health promotion programs. Dubbed the Healthful Workforce Act, it calls for an company tax credit of up to $200 per employee enrolled in a newly developed health promotion program.

For larger firms, there’s the $200 credit for the first 200 employees and up to $100 per worker thereafter.  To qualify for the full credit, your wellness program would have to feature -

o  health risk assessments

o  worker education drives (e.g., targeted mailings, internet based tools)

o  behavior change programs (e.g., smoking cessation, weight control, wellness Coaches), and

o  ”meaningful” participation incentives (e.g., lower co-pays).

Qualified corporations would be able to claim the tax credit for up to 10 years after starting a health promotion 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.

If and when the bill is ratified, employers could claim the federal tax credit the following year.

In the meantime, whether or not your business already has a formal wellness program, there are proven ways to make wellness part of the business culture. Best of all, they don’t have to cost an extra cent.

Wellness town meetings

It’s often said that successful health promotion programs start at the top of the company. Reason - Staff Members choose up fast on whether upper-level management practices what it preaches when it comes to wellness.

If the individuals  in executive management are smokers, obese or simply reluctant to talk about health issues, it’s a tough sell to get staff engaged in taking control of their health.

That’s the idea behind the wellness town meeting.

Once a week (or once a month), everyone in the organization 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 use of tobacco.

In most corporations, the meetings are arranged to encourage casual, free-flowing conversation.

One key - Individuals  speak from where they’re seated, rather than standing up front, with all eyes staring at them.

A number of businesses take a more formal approach, which can also work.  For example, at Old National Bank in Indiana, folks file into an auditorium to face their worst enemy, the scale.

Each week, everybody at the firm â.” from seasoned managers to the newest hires â.” comes in to get weighed.  The only one who sees the number on the scale is the individuals getting weighed. Even so, the wellness program has inspired a lot of folks to lose weight.

Free tests and screenings

While there’s no substitute for having staff members undergo extensive health risk appraisals, 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 personnel screened for free. Through the American Academy of Dermatology’s National Melanoma and Skin Cancer Screening program, volunteer physicians perform skin cancer screenings at no cost.

In like manner, other medical associations and public health agencies offer free or nominal-cost screenings for a selection of other common conditions.