Incentive - March 2010 - (Page 6)

HEADLINES A Virtuoso Performance PAGE 8 Luxury travel network Virtuoso lives up to its name with an incentive trip to Scotland for top high-end travel agents How to Run a Recognition Program PAGE 16 Follow these five steps to create a recognition program that makes your employees feel like Olympians Short On Breath Survival of Wellness Incentives in the National Health Care Bill Is Questionable BY DONNA M. AIROLDI W hen the Incentive Federation industry group went to Capitol Hill last October to lobby for a wellness incentives clause in the national health care bill, it met with concern that such programs would be discriminatory. Some feared that companies would first raise employee health insurance rates and then reimburse those who meet certain healthrelated goals, thereby resulting in higher and often unaffordable premiums for those who fail to meet the goals. “On a fundamental level, if you start giving deeper discounts to employees because they live a particular way, it creates too much possibility to discriminate against higher-risk groups. So there is some truth to that concept,” says George Delta, the Incentive Federation’s executive director. “But then, they’re no longer talking about incentives, they’re talking about cash rebates. We favor in-kind benefits that can be used to provide everyone an opportunity to Incentive industry officials went to Capitol Hill to lobby for wellness incentives improve his or her lifestyle.” Concerns that wellness incentive programs could end up shifting costs to the very segment of the workforce that the health care reform legislation aims to help—namely individuals who struggle to afford coverage to begin with—are now public after several medical and activist organizations, including the American Heart Association and AARP, signed a letter protesting their inclusion in the bill and urged lawmakers to remove it. “When we talked to people in Senator [Charles] Schumer’s office and Representative [Kathy] Dahlkemper, who’s a nutritionist, they were concerned about this very issue,” says Delta. “The last thing we want is anything that’s discriminatory. That goes against our interest. But you have to distinguish between cash and non-cash incentives.” Currently, under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, companies are allowed to offer incentives to those who meet certain benchmarks in voluntary wellness programs. The value of those inducements cannot be worth more than 20 percent of the employer’s cost of insurance coverage for the employee. The clause in the Senate version of the bill would raise that figure to 30 percent and possibly 50 percent if approved. People with medical conditions would be precluded from participating. It’s not likely that the clause will remain in the bill, though the industry group that traveled to Washington is still hoping for a “Hail Mary, it’ll get in there.” If not, the group will “look for a jobs bill or a tax bill that’s less politically charged to codify the concept of in-kind incentives so that, just like with safety programs, you can give [employees] up to $400 in tax-free benefits to participate,” says Delta. “We want the same benefits for qualified wellness programs. That’s still our position.” 6 | Incentive | March 2010 | incentivemag.com http://www.incentivemag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Incentive - March 2010

Incentive - March 2010
Contents
Editor’s Note: An Olympic-Size Motivation Mystery
Headlines
Cover Story: A Virtuoso Performance
5th Annual Gift Card Roundtable
5 Steps to a Successful Recognition Program
Strategies: Add Purpose to Professional Goals
Travel News: Where to Go
Caribbean Is Set for the Return of Incentives
Potentials: Here & Now
Gift Card Retailers Are Ready
Crystal Clear Recognition

Incentive - March 2010