The Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM Summary of Wellness Results 4th Quarter 2006
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Wellness Benefits Currently Being Offered by Firms
Employees of firms with 10-1000 employees are offered a variety of benefits through the workplace. Some employers have implemented wellness benefits as a method for boosting employee health and to help curb the ever-rising healthcare expenses. To identify what types of wellness benefits are available, employees were given a list of possible wellness benefits and asked to identify which ones they were offered. Table 1 below, shows that the top three wellness benefits offered are: Educational tools or resources (18%), Fitness Center Discounts (15%), and Educational Wellness Seminars (13%). As could be expected, wellness benefits are more likely to be offered at larger firms (501-1000 employees).
Table 1 - Wellness Benefits
"Which of the following wellness benefits does your employer currently offer?"
Base: 1197 employed U.S. adults in firms of 10-1,000 employees
| Wellness Benefits | Overall 2006 | Overall 2005 | Overall 2004 | 2006 Employer Firm Size | |
| 10 to 500 Employees | 501 to 1,000 Employees | ||||
| Educational Tools or Resources | 18% | 16% | 19% | 15%* | 36% |
| Fitness Center Discounts | 15%SIG | 12% | 14% | 13%* | 24% |
| Educational Wellness Seminars | 13% | 11% | 14% | 12%* | 23% |
| Fitness Facilities | 12% | 11% | 11% | 10%* | 23% |
| Blood Pressure Checks | 11% | 9% | 12% | 9%* | 22% |
| On-Site Health Screenings | 11%SIG | 8% | 9% | 8%* | 24% |
| Cholesterol Screening | 10%SIG | 7% | 8% | 8% | 18% |
| Smoking Cessation Programs | 9% | 10% | 6% | 7%* | 20% |
| Weight Management Programs | 9% | 8% | 5% | 8%* | 19% |
| Access to Experts (Nutritionists, etc) | 7% | 7% | 8% | 6% | 11% |
| Intervention Programs | 7%SIG | 5% | 7% | 6% | 12% |
| Blood Sugar Screening | 6% | 6% | 6% | 5%* | 13% |
| Weight Mgmt Program Discounts | 6% | 5% | 4% | 5%* | 13% |
| Consultant Review of Health Screen | 6%SIG | 4% | 4% | 5%* | 11% |
| Maternity Management | 4% | 5% | 6% | 4%* | 10% |
| Personalized Action Plan for High Risk Conditions | 4% | 3% | 4% | 3% | 7% |
| Online Health Screenings | 4% | 3% | 2% | 3% | 7% |
| Fitness Equipment Discounts | 2% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 1% |
| Other | 4% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 4% |
| N=1197 | N=1,213 | N=1,736 | N=1010 | N=187 | |
SIG= Significant at the 95% confidence level
* - varies significantly (95% level) from 10-500 employees and 501-1000 employees comparison
Usage of Wellness Benefits by Employees
Although employers can offer a variety of wellness benefits; it is up to the employees to take advantage of these benefits. Based upon which wellness benefits are offered to them, employees were asked to identify how frequently they used each of them. Shown in Table 2 below is a breakdown of how frequently they are used.
Table 2 - Usage of Wellness Benefits
"How often do you use each of the following wellness benefits offered by your employer?"
Base: employed U.S. adults with at least 1 Wellness Program offered
| Wellness Benefits | # of Employees with access to benefit | Have Used 2006 | Have Used 2005 | Have Used 2004 | 2006 Use Frequency | ||
| Weekly | Monthly | Yearly | |||||
| Education Tools/Resources | 234 | 86% | 82% | 84% | 17% | 51% | 18% |
| Online Health Screenings | 40 | 86% | 72% | 66% | 8% | 12% | 66% |
| Consultant Review of Health Screen | 57 | 80% | 72% | 70% | – | 23% | 57% |
| On-Site Health Screenings | 133 | 79% | 68% | 79% | – | 12% | 67% |
| Blood Pressure Checks | 132 | 70%SIG | 81% | 71% | 6% | 19% | 45% |
| Cholesterol Screening | 106 | 70% | 73% | 70% | – | 8% | 62% |
| Personalized Action Plan for High Risk Conditions | 33 | 65% | 45% | 49% | 14% | 10% | 40% |
| Education Wellness Seminars | 153 | 63% | 68% | 69% | 6% | 27% | 31% |
| Blood Sugar Screening | 75 | 60% | 70% | 65% | – | 9% | 51% |
| Fitness Facilities | 161 | 60%SIG | 38% | 54% | 46% | 7% | 8% |
| Access to Experts | 86 | 48% | 42% | 60% | 8% | 7% | 34% |
| Fitness Center Discounts | 178 | 39% | 32% | 38% | 13% | 15% | 11% |
| Weight Mgmt Programs | 84 | 37% | 33% | 35% | 7% | 13% | 16% |
| Intervention Programs | 72 | 25% | 37% | 40% | 2% | 8% | 15% |
| Fitness Equipment Discounts | 23 | 24% | 40% | 64% | – | 6% | 18% |
| Maternity Management | 46 | 24% | 15% | 12% | – | 6% | 18% |
| Weight Mgmt Program Discounts | 69 | 22% | 36% | 17% | 5% | 1% | 15% |
| Smoking Cessation Programs | 128 | 11% | 16% | 10% | 1% | 2% | 8% |
SIG= Significant at the 95% confidence level
Wellness Benefits Desired And Not Currently Offered
To understand what wellness benefits employees desire, employees were given a list of benefits not currently offered by their firms and asked to pick the top 3 they would like to see offered. Table 3 shows those benefits listed in order of most frequently mentioned - Fitness Facilities received the highest percentage of mentions (30%). One fourth (24%) responded they would prefer to see their employer offer "none of these".
Table 3 - Wellness Benefits Desired
"Below are the wellness benefits you indicated your employer does not offer. Which of the following are the top three benefits that you would like to see your employer offer?"
Base: 1197 employed U.S. adults in firms of 10-1,000 employees
| Wellness Benefits | Top Wellness Benefits Desired 2006 | Top Wellness Benefits Desired 2005 | Top Wellness Benefits Desired 2004 |
| Fitness Facilities | 30% | 27% | 31% |
| Fitness Center Discounts | 26% | 23% | 33% |
| Weight Management Programs | 18% | 17% | 19% |
| Access to Experts (Nutritionists, etc.) | 17%SIG | 12% | 18% |
| On-Site Health Screenings | 15% | 15% | 16% |
| Fitness Equipment Discounts | 12% | 10% | 15% |
| Weight Management Program Discounts | 12%SIG | 9% | 13% |
| Educational Wellness Seminars | 9% | 9% | 9% |
| Smoking Cessation Programs | 9% | 7% | 9% |
| Cholesterol Screening | 8%SIG | 13% | 11% |
| Blood Pressure Checks | 8%SIG | 13% | 7% |
| Personalized Action Plan for High Risk Conditions | 6% | 7% | 7% |
| Educational Tools or Resources | 6% | 5% | 8% |
| Consultant Review of Health Screening | 6% | 5% | 7% |
| Blood Sugar Screening | 5% | 6% | 5% |
| Maternity Management | 4% | 5% | 5% |
| Intervention Programs | 3% | 4% | 6% |
| Online Health Screenings | 3% | 4% | 2% |
| None of these | 24% | 26% | 19% |
| N=1196 | N=1,213 | N=1,736 |
SIG= Significant at the 95% confidence level
Perceived Success of Wellness Programs at Reducing Health Care Costs
Employees of firms of 10-1000 employees were asked to evaluate how successful they feel wellness benefits are in reducing healthcare costs. Sixty-one percent believe wellness benefits are very/somewhat successful in reducing healthcare costs. Table 4 provides a breakdown of results.
Table 4 - Wellness Program Success
"How successful do you believe wellness benefits offered by your employer can be in reducing healthcare costs?"
Base: 1197 employed U.S. adults in firms of 10-1,000 employees
| Very Successful | Somewhat Successful | Neither | Somewhat Unsuccessful | Very Unsuccessful | |
| 2006 | 19%SIG | 42% | 23%SIG | 10% | 6% |
| 2005 | 15% | 42% | 27% | 9% | 7% | 2004 | 14% | 43% | 24% | 9% | 11% |
SIG= Significant at the 95% confidence level
Ranking of Who Benefits the Most From Reduced Health Care Costs
As noted above 61% believe that wellness benefits are successful for reducing healthcare costs. As a follow-up question, they were asked to identify who they feel benefits the most financially from reduced healthcare costs. Table 5 shows what percentage of employees ranked each of the items as number one - average rankings were also included in the table.
Table 5 - Benefits From Wellness Benefits
"In your opinion, who benefits most financially from the reduced healthcare costs associated with wellness benefit programs? Please rank list in order with "1" receiving the highest financial benefit and "6" receiving the lowest financial benefit."
Base: 1197 employed U.S. adults in firms of 10-1,000 employees
| % Ranked #1 2006 | % Ranked #1 2005 | % Ranked #1 2004 | Average Ranking 2006 | |
| My Family and Me | 58% | 55% | 48% | 2.1 |
| My Insurance Provider | 17%SIG | 14% | 18% | 2.9 |
| My Employer | 16% | 18% | 19% | 2.5 |
| Society | 5% | 5% | 9% | 4.1 |
| Government | 2%SIG | 4% | 3% | 5.0 |
| Health Care Providers | 1%SIG | 4% | 3% | 4.4 |
SIG= Significant at the 95% confidence level
Items That Would Encourage Employees to Participate in a Wellness Program
Employees were asked to identify 3 benefits that would encourage them to participate in a wellness program - Table 6 shows the full results. Table 7 shows a breakdown of results by age groups.
Table 6 - Encourage to Participate
"Of the items listed below, which three would encourage you to participate in a wellness benefit program?"
Base: 1197 employed U.S. adults in firms of 10-1,000 employees
| 4 Q 2006 | 4 Q 2005 | 4 Q 2004 | |
| Better overall physical health | 56% | 55% | 57% |
| Greater chance of living a longer, healthier life | 41% | 40% | 40% |
| Reduced personal health care costs | 38%SIG | 42% | 46% |
| Receive an incentive or reward to participate | 35% | 33% | 31% |
| Employer provides opportunity to participate | 30% | 31% | 30% |
| More positive mental outlook | 18% | 18% | 18% |
| Recommendation by doctor or health care provider | 17% | 16% | 20% |
| Reduce impact of current condition or illness | 15% | 16% | 18% |
| Encouragement from friends or family | 11%SIG | 8% | 9% |
| Encouragement from employer | 6% | 5% | 6% |
| Advertisements | <1% | <1% | 4% |
| None of these | 5%SIG | 7% | 4% |
SIG= Significant at the 95% confidence level
When respondents are reviewed by age group, there are some differences in what would encourage them to participate in a wellness program.
- The respondents under age 45 are significantly more likely than the 55 and older age group to be encouraged to participate in wellness benefit programs if they receive an incentive or reward to participate.
- The respondents age 45 and over are significantly more likely than the 18-34 year old group to be encouraged to participate if it provides reduced personal healthcare costs.
Table 7 - Encourage to Participate by Age Group
"Of the items listed below, which three would encourage you to participate in a wellness benefit program?"
Base: 1197 employed U.S. adults in firms of 10-1,000 employees
| 2006 Age Groups | ||||
| 18-34 | 35-44 | 45-54 | 55+ | |
| Better overall physical health | 47% | 61% | 62% | 56% |
| Greater chance of living a longer, healthier life | 39% | 37% | 41% | 48% |
| Reduced personal health care costs | 30% | 35% | 44%* | 49%* |
| Receive an incentive or reward to participate | 42%* | 38%* | 31% | 22% |
| Employer provides opportunity to participate | 30% | 36% | 28% | 23% |
| More positive mental outlook | 16% | 26% | 18% | 12% |
| Recommendation by doctor or health care provider | 19% | 15% | 13% | 21% |
| Reduce impact of current condition or illness | 12% | 14% | 16% | 20% |
| Encouragement from friends or family | 12% | 9% | 10% | 12% |
| Encouragement from employer | 6% | 7% | 4% | 8% |
| Advertisements | 1% | 1% | – | – |
| None of these | 7% | 3% | 7% | 5% |
| N=274 | N=317 | N=332 | N=274 | |
* – varies significantly (95%) from at least one age group
Effect of Wellness Program on Employee Motivation and Retention
In determining how important employees perceive the wellness benefits overall, they were asked to identify how much they agreed with a few statements related to encouraging them to work harder/perform better, and encouraging them to stay in their current employment situation. Overall, 51% agree or somewhat agree wellness benefits encourage them to work harder and perform better, and 55% said it would encourage them to stay in their current employment situation.
Table 8 - Employee Motivation
"Please tell us how much you agree or disagree with the following statement. Having a wellness program offered by my employer would / does encourage me to work harder and perform better."
Base: 1197 employed U.S. adults in firms of 10-1,000 employees
| Strongly Agree | Somewhat Agree | Neither | Somewhat Disagree | Strongly Disagree | |
| 2006 | 13% | 39%SIG | 35% | 8% | 6% |
| 2005 | 12% | 35% | 38% | 9% | 6% |
| 2004 | 13% | 37% | 35% | 8% | 6% |
Table 9 - Employee Retention
"Please tell us how much you agree or disagree with the following statement. Having a wellness program offered by my employer would/does encourage me to stay in my current employment situation."
Base: 1197 employed U.S. adults in firms of 10-1,000 employees
| Strongly Agree | Somewhat Agree | Neither | Somewhat Disagree | Strongly Disagree | |
| 2006 | 14% | 40%SIG | 30%SIG | 8% | 7% |
| 2005 | 13% | 35% | 37% | 9% | 6% |
| 2004 | 15% | 39% | 33% | 7% | 6% |
SIG= Significant at the 95% confidence level
Health Plan Options
Employees in firms of 10-1000 were asked to indicate how many health plan options they have available at their place of employment. 46% have more than one option available. There were few statistically significant differences based upon the size of the firm. Table 10 shows the details.
Table 10 - Number of Health Plans Offered
"How many health plan options do you have available at your place of employment?"
Base: 1197 employed U.S. adults in firms of 10-1,000 employees
| Health Plan Options | Overall 2006 | Overall 2005 | Employer Firm Size | |
| 10 to 500 Employees | 501 to 1,000 Employees | |||
| None | 8% | 10% | 8% | 5% |
| 1 option | 38% | 36% | 39% | 30% |
| 2 option | 27%SIG | 22% | 26% | 35% |
| 3 option | 13% | 13% | 11% | 21% |
| 4 or more options | 6% | 7% | 6% | 6% |
| Not sure | 9%SIG | 12% | 10% | 4% |
| N=1197 | N=1,213 | N=1010 | N=187 | |
* – varies significantly (95% level) from 10-500 employees and 501-1000 employees comparison
Ranking of What Motivates Your Decision on Which Plan to Choose
As noted above 46% of employees in firms with 10-1000 have more than one health plan option to choose from. As a follow-up question, they were asked to identify what motivates them to choose a particular plan option. Table 11 shows what percentage of employees ranked each of the items as number one. The care network (doctors and facilities available in the plan) was ranked first by the largest percentage of employees (31%).
Table 11 - Motivators for Choosing a Health Plan Option
"What motivates your decision on which plan to choose? Please rank your top 3 responses with "1" being the most motivational."
Base: N=546 employed U.S. adults who have more than option to choose from
| % Ranked #1 2006 | |
| Care network (doctors and facilities available within the plan) | 31% |
| Monthly paycheck deduction | 24% |
| Physician office visit co-pay | 11% |
| Deductible/s | 10% |
| Benefit limitations and/or exclusions | 9% |
| Estimated health care need for coming year | 7% |
| Emergency visit co-pay | 2% |
| What my colleagues are choosing | – |
| None of these-do not have insurance through my employer | 5% |
| None of these, I just "pick one" | 1% |
"–" indicates no responses
