Would the promise of fattening your wallet motivate you to slim down?
An increasing number of employers, scared by ballooning employee waistlines and health care costs, are betting they can entice workers into healthful habits with incentives such as cold, hard cash -- up to $2,500 in some cases -- and friendly competition among co-workers.
Companies are cropping up to help employers get you out of the La-Z-Boy and walking around the block, including Virgin HealthMiles (owned by entrepreneur Richard Branson of Virgin Records fame), Tangerine and RedBrick Health.
"Our notion is pretty simple," says Sean Forbes, the president of Virgin HealthMiles, which works with about 130 companies nationwide. "People will do the right thing, especially if you pay them."
How it works
The Harlandale Independent School District in San Antonio had a problem -- a "big" problem, you might say.San Antonio is ranked as one of the fattest cities in America, and the school district hasn't been immune. As the district saw the weight of employees rising, it also witnessed increases in the number of people with diabetes and pre-diabetes conditions.
So the school district introduced the Virgin HealthMiles program in September 2008.
Here's how it works at Harlandale: Let's say you're a teacher and you sign up. You're sent a high-tech pedometer that you can wear all the time: walking the dog, jogging, strolling around the block. A few times each week, you plug the pedometer into any computer; an online program tracks the number of steps you've taken, along with other information.
You earn points for your steps. For instance, 7,000 steps (about three and a half miles of walking) earns 60 points for that day. "The more you walk, the more points you get," Eutsler says. You get points, too, for other things: getting your blood pressure, weight and body mass index checked at special stations; hitting your targets in those categories; even for logging on to the health website.
Accrue enough points to hit certain goals, and you'll get a reward -- usually cash or a gift card. For instance, in Harlandale's case, reaching the easy Level 1 requires 6,000 points and earns $25. By the time you've reached the fifth level, which takes about three months and 36,000 points, you've earned $150.
The rewards vary widely by employer. Some pay up to $2,500 annually. Some also offer lower insurance premiums for people who drop weight, lower their blood pressure or bolster other indicators of fitness.
546 pounds lost
At Harlandale, about half of eligible employees have signed up, and about half of those have remained active, uploading their steps, Eutsler says. Though it's too early to point to statistics proving the school district has saved money, she says, the anecdotal evidence is promising: Twenty-five percent of employees have seen improvements in their blood-pressure readings; for an additional 64%, their blood pressure has remained stable. The 50 or so people who regularly use the special kiosks to weigh themselves and check their vital signs have lost a total 546 pounds to date.Harlandale's results aren't unique. Tangerine says its client companies see on average a fivefold return on their investment from reductions on medical claims, lower absenteeism and better worker productivity.
Lori Flores is one of those for whom it's working. Previously, "I wasn't as healthy as I should have been but never got motivated to do anything" about it, says Flores, 35, a teaching assistant at Harlandale's Carroll Bell Elementary. Then she saw her co-workers' excitement in the HealthMiles program and decided to join in, figuring she might make some money to boot.
"It's going great," she says. "I've lost 30 pounds and been able to keep off the weight, and I have been able to be a little more conscious about what I eat."
Continued: For health, not money
