More than 800 eligible employees who participated in free, annual biometric screenings and maintained good health or improved their health during the year received up to $150 to offset the cost of insurance premiums in May.
When the voluntary My Health Rewards program was launched by UAB Employee Wellness in 2015, all benefit-eligible employees on an active UAB health plan were offered free biometric screenings. Those who participated received a health-risk profile based on their results plus help to set and achieve health goals.
In 2016, employees who were rescreened and maintained a healthy status or improved their health qualified for a premium reduction of $25 for each of six measures — tobacco status, glucose, BMI, blood pressure, total cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein — for a potential $150 reduction. My Health Rewards expanded to include benefit-eligible employees of UAB Health System and UAHSF in 2016.
“We are pleased to offer biometric screenings as a way to help our faculty and staff become more aware of their health risks,” said Chief Human Resource Officer Alesia Jones. “The ability to reward those who maintained or improved their healthy measures is a plus.”
Of the 3,000 employees who were screened during the two-year period, 849 who completed both screenings qualified for a premium reduction. “Of those, more than 95 percent earned at least $100 of the possible $150 incentive,” Jones said.
| Of the 3,000 employees who were screened during the two-year period, nearly all of the 849 who completed both screenings qualified for a premium reduction. |
“We hope this reward encourages people to continue to be mindful of their health and well-being and is an incentive for those who were not screened in 2016 to get their numbers in a healthy range before the next screening.”
Those employees who are screened in February 2017 and qualify either by having health measures within the healthy range at the time of the screening or show an improvement from the 2016 screening will be eligible for a premium reduction in May 2017.
My Health Rewards also provides employees year-round opportunities to earn points for exercise and activities such as preventive screenings and wellness education events and be entered into quarterly sweepstakes drawings for cash prizes.
Information about the 2017 biometric screenings will be available during open enrollment.
