Workers’ wellness rewarded

His weight is a battle that 350-pound Kennesaw police Lt. Craig Graydon has fought since childhood.

Now, through the city’s wellness program, he’s beginning to shave off the pounds.

Graydon totally supports the city’s efforts to create a healthy work force. He avoids a $1,300 annual surcharge on his insurance premiums by taking part in the program.

On Monday, Kennesaw became one of 9 percent of employers nationally that offer wellness programs that impose a penalty on employees who don’t participate to improve their chronic health problems, according to a MetLife study.

The city approved surcharges on insurance premiums for tobacco users and for noncompliant employees who have a chronic health condition. Of the city’s 233 employees, 125 participate.

Some city residents believe mandated wellness programs and penalties are discriminatory.

“I understand what the city’s trying to do. It’s nice,” said Kennesaw resident Susan Blake. “Some people are not ready to be helped. What if you don’t lose weight easily? To me, that’s the biggest problem. Who’s going to be judging this? I just think singling people out is dangerous in this society.”

Cal Wray directs the Georgia Municipal Association’s benefit services. “Typically, what we find is that people try to provide incentives initially, then move to punitive measures,” Wray said. Among GMA’s member cities, 35 provide wellness programs.

Georgia supports that approach for its 70,000 employees, retirees and their family members who participate in the state’s wellness program.

The state does impose higher insurance rates on employees who use tobacco products, said Nancy Goldstein, chief of Georgia’s health benefit plan.

Both the state and Kennesaw offer employees programs to help them stop using tobacco and have the surcharge dropped.

Gwinnett County, which has had a wellness program since 1995, frames its benefit in the form of a reward rather than a penalty, said benefits manager Roslyn Forstot. “Beginning in 2009, we’re providing an incentive for employees who do not use tobacco products,” she said. “They will get a $50 a month reduction in their insurance premium.”

WellStar Health System has long offered exercise facilities and wellness programs to its 11,200 employees and definitely sees a benefit, said Karen Mathews, WellStar’s director of work-life services.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia sends wellness information to 3,000 associates in Georgia and has in-house programs. Wellness programs decrease employee turnover, reduce absenteeism, increase productivity and improve morale and overall job satisfaction, said spokeswoman Cheryl Monkhouse.

Most measures of success are anecdotal. Partly because of federal confidentiality laws, it is difficult to determine how many people have quit using tobacco products or how many pounds employees have lost.

Employees in Cherokee, Cobb, Fayette, Gwinnett and Henry counties participate in wellness programs through the Association County Commissioners of Georgia insurance program.

Such programs are a long-term investment, said Goldstein, the state’s health benefit plan chief. The consensus is that wellness programs stem rising insurance premiums and produce happier, healthier employees.

“It’s a good idea, especially with medical costs like they are now,” said Graydon, the Kennesaw police lieutenant. “And it’s for the benefit of the employees, too.”