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to help them quit, including
paying for smoking cessation
drugs like Chantix or nicotine
replacement drugs like patches or
gum, or other forms of treatment
health insurance doesn’t pay
for. “There is an upfront cost for
the company to do that, but in
the long run they will be better
off because if an employee has
a stroke or heart attack they
will pay for it 100 times over,”
Wyman said.
Counseling support is also
critical and he advises people
use a state-supported counseling
group at 1-866-QUIT-YES. “It’s
one of the best out there,” he said.
Finally, he advises companies
to reward those employees who
quit smoking or get their BMI
under control. Under Illinois
law, he said, a company cannot
financially reward somebody
for quitting smoking, for
example, because it is viewed as
discriminatory toward those who
didn’t quit.
But companies can reward
those in wellness programs
through improved benefits,
such as lower deductibles or
co-payments. “In that way you
cannot penalize those who don’t
quit smoking or get fit because
they would still pay the same
as everybody else. But you can
reward those who make the
effort,” he said.
When it comes to smoking
cessation, Wyman said, it’s a
matter of trust. A company has
to trust that an employee has
quit and doesn’t go home every
night and smoke in the garage.
Companies can establish a policy
that says if an employee has been
receiving improved benefits
through deception it can be a
termination offense.
Wyman said companies must
also be patient and not throw in
the towel on an employee right
away. Losing weight and getting
fit is not easy and studies show
that it takes a smoker an average
of seven attempts before he or
she actually quits successfully.
“I tell my clients to stay with
the employee for however long
it takes because all will be better
off in the long run. It really isn’t
business as usual any more
for companies who want to
make the effort to control costs
by controlling the number of
claims,” he said. “Wellness is a
lot of work. But for every $1 a
company invests in wellness it
gets $6 in return,” he said.
And he has seen it work. One
client, Wyman said, has gone
from having 22 employees who
smoke to eight smokers in just
two years.
“A company can just sit back
and take the health insurance
renewal and whatever costs there
are or they can be proactive.
Not everybody is buying into
wellness yet, but it is improving,”
he said.
Wyman does not steer clients
toward any particular wellness
program because each has their
own unique desires and needs.
Some, he said, will find programs
that best suit them but most
develop their own internally.
Companies can find help
getting started at various
websites on the Internet.
One such website is simply
wellness.com. It has a section of
corporate wellness and defines it
as follows: “Corporate Wellness
has become the new ‘buzz
phrase’ in the business world due
to the ever-rising costs of health
care. Yet many people are having
trouble defining exactly what is
meant by Corporate Wellness.
Having a true Corporate Wellness
program means supporting every
employee in the improvement or
maintenance of their current state
of health. This includes mental,
physical, and emotional support
to guide employees toward
positive lifestyle changes. And
everyone knows that healthy
employees make productive
companies.”
Wellness.com says for a
company to realize benefits it
“must implement a complete
Corporate Wellness program that
uses a comprehensive, systematic
approach that is put into place
over an extended period of time.
This approach should involve
three essential elements: an
assessment of each employee,
education on various health and
wellness topics, and programs
and services that facilitate
positive lifestyle change. When
a company takes this approach,
they put their Corporate Wellness
program in position for great
success.”
It also will advise companies
on health assessments, the types
of incentives they might offer
employees who participate and
how to track success.
The National Wellness
Institute offers similar help at
nationalwellness.org. Other
organizations will, as well.
“There are a lot of websites that
can help a company get started
with tips or what have you,”
Wyman said. “Companies just
need to recognize that getting
there, regardless of what path
they take, is the most important
thing,” he said.
The Present
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“There is an
upfront cost for
the company...,
but in the long
run they will be
better off...”