By Sarah Green
KHI News Service
TOPEKA, July 25
As part of a new wellness and prevention program, many state employees next year will have the option of a personal “health coach” available to counsel them on things such as eating well, exercise and quitting smoking.
The Kansas Health Policy Authority announced Wednesday it will sign a contract with Health Dialog, a Boston-based company that will conduct health-risk assessments of those enrolled in the state employee health benefit plan, then match them with services to help control chronic diseases; lose weight; stop smoking or talk with a life coach.
“Supporting our employees and providing them the appropriate tools which include wellness, prevention and disease management is the key to a healthier and more thriving state.
We hope we will be a model for other employers throughout the state to promote health for their workforce,” said Marcia Nielsen, executive director of the health policy authority, in a prepared statement.
The state”s plan covers about 88,000 state employees and their families, retirees and some non-state government workers. The $4.4 million contract with Health Dialog, approved Wednesday by the Kansas State Employees Health Care Commission, should be in place in January, said LJ Frederickson, director of the State Employee Health Benefits Program, Workers Compensation and Wellness Behaviors.
Focusing on curbing tobacco use and reducing obesity one in three people covered by the state”s plan is overweight or obese, and one in four smokes the state hopes to attack the root causes of chronic disease and teach people how to take better care of themselves, Frederickson said.
Health Dialog will provide data annually to the state with information about participation in the health-risk assessment program and related information, such as the number of workers” compensation claims; absenteeism; long- and short-term disabilities and quality and satisfaction with the program. Individual health information will not be available to state officials.
The health risk assessments are voluntary
“but we want you to take them,” Frederickson said. Incentives, such as credit towards employee”s insurance premiums, will also be tied in to the program to encourage participation.
-Sarah Green is a staff writer for KHI News Service, which specializes in coverage of health issues facing Kansans. She can be reached at
sgreen@khi.org
or at 785-233-5443, ext. 118.