Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
[Music intro]
[Laurita Thomas] We're talking today about health plans that reward you for managing your health.
The university is considering this type of plan, a member-engagement health plan,
as a way to encourage healthy living and reward you for taking your part.
If we choose to introduce this type of plan,
it could be available as soon as 2012.
This video provides important information about how these types of plans work,
and what you can do to get the most out of them.
[Music]
[Dr. Robert Winfield] Member engagement health plans integrate health and wellness into the plan design
by rewarding healthy behaviors typically with lower premiums and lower co-pays.
This type of plan can provide you with an opportunity to take an active role in managing your health
and your well-being in ways that can improve your outlook, your energy, and quality of life.
When you enroll in these types of plans, you typically need to complete a health risk questionnaire,
see your primary care physician, and follow your doctor's recommendations for wellness.
In exchange for these efforts, you could receive lower cost premiums or reduced co-pays on your office visits.
You'd have access to the same doctors and hospitals whether you choose to participate in the wellness aspects or not.
But you could get a reduced premium when you agree to manage your health,
or pay a higher premium if you chose not to do so.
The proposed U-M plan would focus initially on factors that could substantially
impact your health, and the likelihood that you may develop a chronic or disabling illness.
I'm talking about things like smoking, exercise, blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes.
We're considering these because they're among the top health risks identified by our MHealthy wellness appraisals.
And because they're things that you can take steps to help control.
One of our chief goals in considering this type of plan
is to better encourage the overall health and wellness of our community for better, longer, more energized lives.
The steps you take to improve your own health
benefit our entire community by reducing our shared risks,
and helping to control the costs of preventable and controllable conditions.
[Laurita Thomas] A guiding principle we'll follow in our plan design process
is to maintain our high standards of quality and affordability,
while integrating a simple approach to reward you for your wellness efforts.
These incentives might take the form of financial rewards,
such as reduced premiums. Or they could encourage your healthy behaviors in other ways.
The key word here is simplicity.
The idea is to make it easy and rewarding for you to be engaged in healthy behavior.
Another key consideration is that the plan should be affordable and competitive with our peer institutions
and other large employers' benefit plans.
This will help us continue to attract and retain premier faculty and staff.
Choice is yet another important factor.
The new plan could offer you a choice of participation levels.
If you complete a health risk assessment and biometric screening,
and participate in healthy behaviors that help you reduce your health risks,
you would receive the greatest or the largest incentive.
If you choose a reduced level of participation,
or not to participate at all,
you would receive less or no incentive.
Good health is its own reward.
But a member engagement health plan adds that extra incentive.
By recognizing your efforts to manage your health with cost savings and other rewards
the plan could help you support your personal health and wellness,
while building a culture of health at the University of Michigan.
[Music close]