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Financial incentives for wellness gain popularity

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Financial incentives for wellness gain popularity

The number of employers that use financial incentives to drive employee engagement in workplace wellness programs continued to grow in 2014, a new survey shows.

Eighty-seven percent of employers polled in Optum Inc.'s Sixth Annual Wellness in the Workplace Survey used some form of financial reward or penalty in connection with a workplace wellness program, up from 81% in 2013 and 77% in 2012, according to survey results released on Monday.

The percent of employers using “health-contingent” incentives — rewards or penalties based on an employee's completion of a wellness activity or achievement of a specific health outcome — increased as well. Fifty-seven percent of employers polled said they had at least one activity-based incentive in place, and 43% of employers said they used at least one form of outcome-based incentive, up from 52% and 42% respectively in the previous year.

Overall, the mean annual incentive value among all employers polled was $414 last year. The most popular forms of incentives offered were employer contributions to health savings accounts or health reimbursement arrangements, insurance premium reductions and gift cards.

The survey also revealed a significant increase in the percent of employers that have applied long-term or annual strategic planning to their wellness programs, up to 58% of employers in 2014 from 49% in 2013.

Additionally, employers surveyed appeared to be slightly more comfortable investing in wellness programming, with just 17% reporting a decrease in their wellness budget in 2014, down from 20% in the previous year.

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