Working out pays off for some Treasure Valley workers | Local News | Idaho Statesman

BodyBuilding.com hands out cash for fitness book reports. Healthwise offers Wellness Bucks and nap rooms. The local branch of the American Heart Association competes for Wii privileges.

Workers of all shapes and sizes are being enticed by cash and prizes that employers hope will hedge against growing health-coverage costs. Company wellness programs that used to start and end with smoking-cessation support and gym reimbursements are morphing into menus of freebies and discounts.

SPEND TO SAVE MONEY

Most businesses are quick to say their first priority is employee health for its own sake. But they admit saving money is a factor in the new financial incentives.

Research published in December in the Harvard Business Review — which drew on a site visit to Healthwise, the nonprofit health-information organization in Boise — suggests that offering perks and fixing employees’ health problems can yield a 200 [...]

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Audrey Dutton: 377-6448

Full article at idahostatesman.com

 

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