Texas Mutual Receives National Wellness Award

Texas Mutual Insurance Company has earned recognition from UnitedHealthcare for its commitment to employee health and wellness. Ten other companies around the country earned the award.

Award criteria included executive support for the health program, the presence of wellness champions and innovation in wellness program design.

Texas Mutual’s employee wellness program includes online health improvement tools, health risk assessments, wellness coaching, fitness centers at each of its five locations, onsite flu shots, yoga classes, a walking program, Weight Watchers at Work and wellness incentives.

Ed Coates, senior manager of employee services at Texas Mutual, said the program’s goal is similar to that of the safety and loss prevention services the company offers its policyholders: help identify risks, and provide resources to reduce or eliminate those risks.

Coates added that the program has seen positive results, which have contributed to below-market increases in the company’s health plan expenses the past few years.

Results of the program indicate:

• The number of employees scoring in the poor and fair overall health categories decreased by 4.7 percentage points.
• At the same time, employees scoring in the good and excellent health categories increased by about 4.6 percentage points.
• As overall employee health improved, sick leave usage significantly decreased, and in turn, productivity improved.

Nearly 80 percent of participants responding to the health risk assessment believed that the wellness resources and opportunities provided by the company helped them develop and practice a healthier lifestyle.

Source: Texas Mutual Insurance Company

Topics Texas