Making Blue Health Solutions a Success

A guide to implementing an employee incentive program in your company.

We know that employees who are motivated to participate in Blue Health Solutions will be far more likely to take personal responsibility for their own health. By increasing their interaction with the program it also helps us better identify your members’ needs, so we can manage their health more effectively.

We also know that the best way to motivate your employees is to implement an incentive program that tracks participation and provides rewards. It’s effective, it’s easy, and we can help you get started.

How does an incentive program work?
With Blue Health Solutions, your employees can earn incentives for achieving a number of established participation goals. We will track their participation and report to you on the following goals:

• Completion of the online Health Assessment
• The number of Health Coach calls made
• The number of points earned through the online tools

All you need to do is sign-up for Blue Health Solutions Tracking System and we will send you participation report emails on a quarterly basis.

You will not be given any confidential or illness-related information about your members. This helps you avoid any risk of violation of the employee’s privacy.

Who can participate?
Engaging all adults in the family is more effective than only engaging your employee. That is why you can include all of your employees, who are members of a Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania (BCNEPA) health plan, as well as their spouses, in your incentive program. Only BCNEPA health plan members and their families are able to use the Blue Health Solutions tools.

How much is enough?
The amount of incentive offered is entirely up to you. However, national studies have shown that the larger the reward, the greater the participation. For example, $100 cash rewards given for completing a Health Assessment led to approximately 70% member participation. For guidance please refer to your legal counsel or IRC/DOL regulations.*

How should incentives be set?
Setting incentives should be based on your particular employee population—what’s going to motivate them to participate, what’s going to get them to be fully engaged. For example, if you want to assure that your members are fully engaged, you may decide to set a single incentive based on meeting all three participation goals. On the other hand, if you believe that your employee population will be more motivated by receiving incremental rewards, you may decide to set ongoing incentives for individual activities as in the example below:

• Online Health Assessment = $100
• A phone call into a Care Coordinator = $25
• 5000 online points per quarter = $25 (4 times per year, total = $100) 

Either way, the total reward each participant could earn per year could be $225.

You can choose to incent 1, 2 or all 3 activities. We will report to you completion of each of the three activities listed, including the number of online points earned. Completion of one online module is worth 2,500 points.

How can cash incentives be disbursed?*
There are two effective ways you can provide incentives to your employees:

• Option A: As taxable income.
• Option B: As a tax-exempt offset to your employee’s portion of his/her health care premium. For example:
  • Assume your employee typically pays $50 per month toward his/her health coverage and meets all health goals established by your company.
  • You decide to provide a $20/month credit toward the portion of his/her health care premium.
  • The member pays $30/month for health coverage.
  • The cost to you is $20 x 12 = $240.
  • Because the reduction is in payroll contribution to the health plan premium, the contribution can be exempt from federal taxes.

Some employers also choose to use incentives such as time off, or non-monetary gifts.

The more your employees know about the program, the more involved they will be. To access promotional material you can use for your program click here. And always remember to lead by example!

*This information regarding consumer incentive or wellness programs does not constitute, and should not be construed as providing legal/tax advice and/or opinions. The information about consumer incentive or wellness programs provides general information, which may or may not be correct, complete or current at the time of reading. This information is not intended to be used as a substitute for specific legal/tax advice or opinions. No reader of this information on consumer incentive or wellness programs should act or refrain from acting on the basis of this information without seeking appropriate legal/tax advice or other professional counseling. Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania expressly disclaims all liability relating to actions taken or not taken based on any or all information contained in this communication.