Employment-based health insurance is the primary source of health coverage in the United States, and as health plans continue to evolve, health plan sponsors continue to look for ways to get their workers more directly involved in their own health care. To highlight new work on how employers are trying to increase individuals’ involvement in health—and why it’s important—EBRI devoted part of its 78th policy forum in May to the topic of “Innovations in Employee Engagement in Health,” which is summarized in this article. <A href="https://www.ebri.org/pdf/PR1171.Pol-For-Hlth.31Aug16.pdf ">Press release. </A>
This EBRI Notes article summarizes discussion on how employers are trying to increase individuals’ involvement in health—and why it’s important, presented at the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 78th policy forum in Washington, DC, on May 12, 2016. The topic was “Innovations in Employee Engagement in Health” and brought together about a hundred benefits-related experts to discuss a variety of health and retirement topics.
Among the presenters were:
- J. David Johnson, Vice President and Senior Consultant for Segal Consulting/Sibson Consulting, spoke on the topic of “Behavioral Economics and Employee Engagement—Carrots, Sticks, or Something Else?”
- Alan Momeyer, Vice President of Human Resources Emeritus, Loews Corp., who described how the company has been experimenting with health incentives for years before the Affordable Care Act was enacted.
- Michael Thompson, Principal, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and President and CEO-elect of the National Business Coalition on Health, who discussed how innovation in technology and incentives can be used to improve health, well-being, and value.
- Peter Goldbach, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dialog, who described his firm’s new clinical analytic tool that tracks a population’s state of health and disease over time and can help provide insights to employers on how to improve employee health.