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insight on H e alth & Wellness By Amy Spree man Running down costs New North employers help workers to trim waistlines, health insurance spending photographs cour tesy of Secura Derek Sharratt, an analyst programmer at Secura, works out in the company���s fitness center. Health and wellness are incorporated into the culture of the company, which recently won a platinum-level Well Workplace Award from the Wellness Councils of America (WELCOA). Badger Mining Corp. of Berlin also was a platinum-level winner. To read more about the awards, visit insightonbusiness.com. A s Wisconsin���s businesses struggle with rising health insurance premiums, employers are looking to their workforce to help meet those challenges by encouraging healthier lifestyle choices. Nationally, the Kaiser Family Foundation���s annual look at the state of employer-sponsored insurance shows health insurance costs are growing much faster than wages. The report says that while employee contributions to their health insurance premiums jumped by 180 percent since 1999, their earnings grew just a quarter as fast. The average health insurance plan offered by a large company is $15,745, and many employers are shifting more health care costs to their workers. 34 | Insight ��� J a n u a r y 2 013 That���s why more employers are taking a proactive approach to lowering health risks, and employees are eagerly climbing on board. Appleton-based Secura Insurance has offered employees an on-site ���mini physical,��� a health risk assessment that includes a blood draw, cholesterol check, blood pressure and body fat measurement. Based on the risk evaluation score, employees can earn a 5, 10 or 15 percent credit to offset health and medical premiums. ���It���s a reward for being healthy, and it works,��� says Becky Doell, human resources consultant at Secura. ���Every year more and more of our associates qualify for the maximum credit, and today the majority of them do earn that 15 percent.��� Doell says risk and prevention are a part of life that the property and casualty insurance company deals with daily, and knows that prevention is an investment that pays off not only for its associates, but for the company���s bottom line. For instance, carrying extra weight is a risk factor. Health care costs for someone in the obesity range can increase an additional $600. Someone scoring high in eight risk factors are susceptible to as many as 15 chronic conditions, which translate into higher health care costs. ���Every year more and more of our associates qualify for the maximum credit, and today the majority of them do earn that 15 percent.��� ���Becky Doell, human resources consultant at S ecura w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m