Staff schooled in fitness ; District offers health insurance benefits with wellness program [Topeka Capital Journal (KS)]

Each morning at Meadows Elementary, a small group of employees head out for a walk. From 9:30 to 10 a.m., four or five food service and custodial workers spend their unpaid break walking about a mile.

"It's our therapy time," said Amber Workman, head of food service at the school, adding that she and her colleagues use the stroll to clear their minds.

Some days the group walks the school's outdoor track. On others, they opt for the neighborhood, or, if the weather is bad, walk indoors instead.

The employees participate in Topeka Unified School District 501's wellness program. Those in the program -- more than 2,000 people last year -- pay less toward their health insurance in exchange for doing activities like this.

When the district introduced the plan, it wasn't popular, but two years later, it may be a key factor behind dramatic changes in health insurance spending.

This summer, USD 501 renewed its insurance contract with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. For the third year in a row, the district's insurance premiums stayed flat.

That, says Blue Cross, is quite a feat.

"In the current insurance premium and medical usage environment," communications manager Mary Beth Chambers said, "it's probably pretty spectacular."

Only a few years ago, the situation was very different. USD 501 was seeing steep annual hikes. In 2009, its premium costs rose $1.26 million. The next year, they shot up even more.

The increases were untenable, administrators say. So the district made changes. It switched insurance plans, moving from $500 deductibles to $1,000. And at the advice of its health insurance committee -- a panel of teachers, administrators and other staff members -- it introduced a wellness program.

Together with the teachers' union, the district launched a campaign, too, to educate employees about their health and the costs of health care services.

The program

The year before the wellness program started, USD 501 saw a $2.38 million increase in premium costs. Divided across the employee pool, that is about $96 per person per month.

The program gives employees a choice. If they participate, they pay, as before, $20 a month toward insurance for a single plan. If they don't, they pay an extra $96.

Last school year, 99 percent of the pool participated.

"We wanted some personal ownership in the controlling of health care costs," deputy superintendent Larry Robbins said. "If you didn't want to participate, you didn't have to. This was going to be the cost of that decision."

Introducing the program required negotiating with teachers. Union negotiators say it was a tough choice, but ultimately seemed like the best option.

"We were at a painful crossroads," said Jeannie Schnellbacher, a member of the negotiating team. "Premiums could go up, or we could participate in trying to keep premiums down."

Keith Newberry, another member of the team, agrees.

"We wouldn't have presented it to the teachers if we didn't think it was a good deal," he said. "Since then, it appears so far to be helping control costs, which was the ultimate goal."

Though some teachers didn't like the proposal, the majority ultimately voted in favor. Classified staff members didn't vote because they aren't part of the union.

To be in the program, employees do two activities per quarter, including an online health risk assessment once a year. Other activities vary. Employees can join a gym or a weight-loss program. They can participate in events like fun runs or maintain an exercise log.

A panel of teachers and administrators decide what counts as an activity. Fun runs, for example, must be at least 5 kilometers. Personal exercise routines, on the other hand, must be at least 30 minutes a day, three days a week for a month.

Some schools have after-school walking or yoga groups, said Schnellbacher. Others launched jazzercise and kick-boxing groups or volleyball teams.

Meanwhile, the union and district distribute information about health care in newsletters, such as information about the cost of using the emergency room to treat nonemergencies, or of brand-name versus generic medicines.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield data provided to the district indicate that USD 501's total claims have stayed steady, while employees' use of emergency room services has dropped 13 percent and preventive services have risen.

Other factors could be helping the district keep costs down, too.

Peg McCarthyBlue Cross' competitors.

"Larry Robbins is a shrewd negotiator," she said. "He asks for the most aggressive rates they can give us."

Ultimately, though, administrators, board members and others seem convinced the wellness program and education efforts must be playing a role.

"That's the only thing we've really changed," Schnellbacher said.

In the long run, McCarthy hopes, the program could contribute to the district's competitiveness. Avoiding hikes in premium costs means money can be spent on attracting and retaining top employees, instead.

"That is the attitude of the board," she said. "This gives us more money to give employees raises."