Health still tops most company benefits

BOULDER — Health and wellness themes continue to dominate company benefit plans in the Boulder Valley.

Wellness programs range from cash back on insurance premiums to health club and city recreation center passes. Many area companies set up informal exercise groups for walkers, tennis players, or others. Employees who record that activity online can get “points” toward cash back from their insurance premiums.

Healthy diet is particularly important, according to Ryan Volk, a principal at VolkBell Property & Casualty LLC, doing business as VolkBell, an employee-benefits company with three offices along the Front Range, including one in Longmont.

Also important is the concept of “direct primary care,” where an employee can call a doctor directly to get a prescription, rather than having to schedule an office visit, Volk said. Paid time off for volunteer activities also is becoming more popular, he said.

AT VolkBell’s office in Longmont, employees are treated to cut-up fruits and vegetables as snacks throughout the week, Volk said.

“This week, I picked up red and orange peppers, apples, snap peas and avocados,” Volk said. “It can look different for every company, but we make it readily available and chopped up and in front of everybody in the main entrance area. We make it accessible.”

Whole Foods Market Inc. (Nasdaq: WFM) has a more detailed food program, said Ben Friedland, a spokesman for the Rocky Mountain region office based in Boulder. Employees can take vacation time to go through a one-week immersion program about healthy food — a program which costs the company about $3,500 per employee, he said.

“They learn about food, learn about their own health, and it gives them the opportunity to make better choices as it relates to food and health and wellness,” Friedland said. “It’s pretty fantastic.”

In addition, all employees receive 20 percent off of any purchase they make at any Whole Foods Market store, and if they pass certain health metrics, they can receive up to 30 percent off of food purchases, Friedland said.

Some larger employers — including Seagate Technology Plc’s office in Longmont — use contractors to administer wellness programs.

Seagate’s (Nasdaq: STX) 1,400 employees in Longmont can take advantage of a variety of activities offered through a wellness program managed by Healthbreak Inc., a contract wellness program company based in Golden. The largest private-sector employer in Longmont sees small but enthusiastic participation — about 20 employees per activity, Elizabeth Van Emmerick, the wellness program manager at Seagate, said at a recent statewide conference on health and wellness.

In Boulder, some 943 city employees are eligible for a pass at any city recreation center, according to Patrick von Keyserling, a city spokesman. The employees must participate in an annual wellness checkup that includes a blood test.

The Wellness Works program helps keep health-insurance costs down, which in turn helps keep premiums down, von Keyserling said. The city does not have statistics on how much is being saved because the program is in its first couple of years, he said.

“The reason the city offers that is, we want the employees to be as healthy as we can be,” von Keyserling said. The program “is a great tool to put wellness front of mind, and, if you do all of that, you get the parks and recreation pass.”

Across the board, health insurance continues to be the most commonly offered employee benefit, said Patty Goodwin, director of surveys for the regional trade group Mountain States Employers Council. In an April survey done by the group, 99 percent of member companies offered health insurance in one form or another.

Of its member employers, 84 percent pay at least part of the employee’s insurance premium, according to the survey, Goodwin said. The individual total monthly insurance premium average price went up to $509 in the latest survey from $500 a year ago, she said.

The total family insurance premium average was at $1,476 in the April survey, and 68 percent of employers pay at least part of that premium, Goodwin said.

Some 19 percent of the employers surveyed said they pay 100 percent of employee insurance premiums, Goodwin said.

The Mountain States Employers Council handles human resources and employment law needs of about 2,700 member companies in Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Arizona.

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