Event: HRForum, Health and Wellness: Trends in Employer Sponsored Benefit Programs

According to the SHRM website, if a company correctly implements a wellness program using thorough, company-specific research and planning, the program can be a “win-win” for both the employer and the employees. Wellness programs can benefit employers by: lowering health care costs, reducing absenteeism, reducing workers’ compensation and disability-related costs, reducing injuries and improving employee morale and loyalty. This forum is designed to provide students an understanding of how, as direct benefit costs continue to escalate, for both the employer and employee (increased premiums, copays, high deductible plans), companies are being required to be more thoughtful and creative about benefit offerings.  As a result, many companies are increasing existing or implementing new Wellness programs as part of the company-sponsored benefits. The keynote speaker will talk about trends in wellness programs and the panelists will provide insight into their individual company [...]

Be Well’s employees aren’t all marathoners, but top small company practices what it preaches

Michelle Jarboe McFee for The Plain Dealer SOLON, Ohio -- Eileen Herman spent years researching diseases and working with patients struggling with diabetes or recuperating from heart and lung problems. Now she's focused on prevention instead of treatment, as the nursing director for Be Well Solutions, a small Northeast Ohio company that stands to grow as employers try to tamp down rising health-care costs and comply with the Affordable Care Act. A physician-owned company, Be Well Solutions offers health screenings, risk assessments and wellness programs to a broad range of corporate clients. The 50-person business emerged as the top-ranked small business in this year's Top Workplaces in Northeast Ohio survey. In May, Herman and much of Be Well's staff traveled to health fairs in North Carolina, Arizona, Illinois and Massachusetts. They tested workers' blood pressure, cholesterol and other vital statistics, [...]

In Good Company: Grand Slam

Heather Maurer for Wright State University Wright State University Alumnus Ronald Golovan serves as team physician for the Cleveland Indians, cares for entertainers appearing at the House of Blues, Blossom Music Center, and other Cleveland venues, serves as medical director for a corporate wellness firm, and sees patients in his private practice. As a Cleveland-based private practice internist, Ronald Golovan, M.D., (’89) has spent 22 years treating professional baseball players, musicians, actors, and corporate executives. However, he is quick to point out that some of the most satisfying moments of his career have come from his involvement in the health care of his more typical internal medicine patients. “I won’t lie. Taking care of professional athletes and musicians is great, but I still love going to work every day and seeing my regular office patients,” said Golovan, who received the 2013 Outstanding [...]

FAQs about Affordable Care Act Implementation (Part XVIII): Updated January, 2014

United States Department of Labor Wellness Programs On June 3, 2013, the Departments issued final regulations regarding nondiscriminatory wellness programs in group health coverage under PHS Act section 2705 and the related provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the Code. The final regulations increase the maximum permissible reward under a health-contingent wellness program offered in connection with a group health plan (and any related health insurance coverage) from 20 percent to 30 percent of the cost of coverage, and further increase the maximum permissible reward to 50 percent for wellness programs designed to prevent or reduce tobacco use. The final regulations also address the reasonable design of health-contingent wellness programs and the reasonable alternatives that must be offered in order to avoid prohibited discrimination. In the preamble to the final regulations, the Departments stated that they anticipated [...]

Event: Solon Chamber of Commerce January Luncheon Meeting

Speaker Bill Frankel "Sticking to Your New Year's Resolution" Does your New Year’s resolution include weight loss and getting healthy? Keeping this #1  resolution is hard and most of us fail before we even get started. Every day we are bombarded with mixed information on how to lose weight, which exercise is best, and what foods pack the most punch. Even if you do not run marathons and eat vegan you can be healthy. Bill Frankel will give you the straight talk on ways to get on track---today---to a healthier you. Bill Frankel is the Executive Vice President of Be Well Solutions, a physician-owned, comprehensive wellness company.  Mr. Frankel provides wellness services and organizational consulting for companies throughout the United States. His areas of expertise include stress management, sustained wellness, exercise and nutrition, team building, organizational change, difficult personalities, effective communication, and leadership [...]

Wellness Warriors

Timothy Magaw for Crain's Cleveland Be Well Solutions, a Solon-based wellness consultant, and Movable, the Brecksville-based makers of the colorful MOVband products, have joined forces. The two companies said they have partnered on Be Well's largest client to date, Kent State University. The hope is that Be Well ultimately will be able to offer MOVbands — the colorful plastic wristbands designed to help people track how physically active they are — to all of their clients. With the partnership, the MOVband technology will be integrated into Be Well's web portal. This will allow Kent State employees, for instance, to upload and track their activity. Working with the university's health services, Be Well will hold health fairs on all of Kent State's campuses, and hold meeting to introduce university employees to the program. Be Well's web portal will provide employees with a [...]

Be Well Solutions Currently Assists More Organizations with the BWC Wellness Grant than Any Other Wellness Company in Ohio.

Ohio employers wanting to improve the health and wellness of their workers can benefit from the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s newest program, the Workplace Wellness Grant Program (WWGP). It provides funding to assist employers in establishing training and programs to reduce health risk factors specific to their employees. BWC established WWGP to study the effect of a wellness program in the workplace on bringing down incidence and cost of accidents and illnesses. The goal is to control the escalating cost of workers' compensation claims through addressing health risk factors. The WWGP's collateral goals are also to reduce health-care costs for employers, as well as improve the health of the workforce. The BWC has established this program to meet the challenges of obesity, rising incidence of chronic diseases and the aging workforce. This program will assist employers with the creation and [...]

Wellness plan moving along for Stark employees

Tim Botos for the Canton Repository County commissioners continue path toward implementing program. CANTON Stark County commissioners continue a move toward creation of a wellness program for county government employees. They’d previously published a request for proposals, seeking third-party vendors to implement and run what likely will be a voluntary program for more than 1,500 workers. After sorting through responses from 11 companies, they’ve narrowed the field to three. They plan to meet with each — BeWell Solutions, Interactive Health and Aultcare — in two weeks. The depth and breadth of such an offering has yet to be shaped, but it’s likely to be gradually phased in. Employers Health of Jackson Township, hired as a consultant, helped create and shepherd through the proposals to get the plan to this point. $16 MILLION PER YEAR The county spends $16 million per [...]

How the Health Care Law is Making a Difference for the People of Ohio

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Because of the Affordable Care Act, the 86% of Ohioans who have insurance have more choices and stronger coverage than ever before. And for the 14% of Ohioans who don’t have insurance, or Ohio families and small businesses who buy their coverage but aren’t happy with it, a new day is just around the corner. Soon, the new online Health Insurance Marketplace will provide families and small businesses who currently don’t have insurance, or are looking for a better deal, a new way to find health coverage that fits their needs and their budgets. Open enrollment in the Marketplace starts Oct 1, with coverage starting as soon as Jan 1, 2014.  But Ohio families and small business can visit HealthCare.gov right now to find the information they need prepare for open enrollment. The health care [...]

Administrator chosen for wellness program

Sue Reid for Solon Times   City council’s finance committee approved preparing legislation last week to accept the proposal of Be Well Solutions, a Solon company, as third-party administrator of an employee wellness program. The cost to Be Well Solutions for the one-year contract is $25,850. The city interviewed five companies of 10 proposals it received, with Be Well Solutions believed to be the “best fit” for the city and its culture, Human Resources Coordinator Jessica Vest told the committee. The fee proposal, which is an estimate, is based on the number of expected participants and includes biometric screenings, health risk assessment, coaching, incentive tracking and on-site presentations, among other services. The hope is to expand the program to cover all the city’s 283 employees and their spouses, Ms. Vest said. “Wellness programs have been gaining popularity over the last [...]