No matter what kind of lifestyle you lead or what health choices you make, everyone seems to agree on one thing: something has to be done to control health care inflation and the trend of rising costs. For this reason, employers all over the nation are turning to workplace wellness programs as part of a solution to the problems at hand.

According to Director of Benefits at the Statewide Benefits Office Erika Van Flein, wellness programs are one of the few ways to take cost out of the plan, by reducing the need for healthcare services.

A wellness program would work to reduce the number of risk factors in the UA employee population. “Rates probably aren’t going down because of healthcare inflation, but we can work to reduce the trend. Cost trends are not something to be viewed on the short term. Instead, the goal is to make a difference over time, using wellness programs to slow down the rate of increase in costs,” Van Flein said.

Read more in the Statewide Voice.