During a recent address to a group of benefits professionals, Jennifer Benz, founder and CEO of benefits communication firm Benz Communications, charged her listeners with steering the national conversation about benefits. The world hears a distorted view of what’s really going on in the benefits trenches. The news reports the negative side of our industry: the cost increases, the patient whose prescription isn’t covered, and failed wellness programs. She said that benefits managers have the power to change the national conversation about employee benefits for the good by sharing the success stories. Here is mine.
Matt Rogan* has been working in our company for eight years. He has climbed his way up the corporate ladder and now manages a large department. He is a cheery 32 years old, married and has four children. In his spare time he volunteers for a local volunteer Emergency Medical Service Organization. One more thing about Matt: Matt is a big guy. A really big guy.
In October 2013, our company hosted its first biometric health screening event for employees. Anyone who completed the screening, regardless of results would pay a discounted rate for his or her health insurance premiums.
Matt was told at the screening that he needed to see a doctor about his elevated glucose levels and BMI. He went to his doctor who welcomed him into the type 2 diabetes club. He was put on anti diabetes drug Metformin and was told he needed to start losing weight, eating better, and exercising.
Last week I ran into Matt but I had to do a double take. I barely recognized the Matt from just six months ago because he had lost 100 pounds. He thanked me profusely and said that the health screening was his wake up call and inspiration to start leading a healthy lifestyle. He had changed his eating habits and exercises every day and is now off of his medication. Even during the never ending winter that we had he was able to get in his exercise by walking up and down the 18 flights of stairs in our building a few times each day.
There is a saying in the Talmud: Whoever saves one life is as if he saves the entire world. Wellness programs are not perfect and if you get down to the raw data the numbers will tell you that they don’t make financial sense. But it’s the real human stories that sometimes make a stronger impact. There are a lot of Matts out there that have HR departments renewing their Wellness contracts. The world just needs to know about them.
