State wellness program

Dear Fellow Nebraskans:

In 2009, the State of Nebraska launched a wellness program for state employees and spouses, called "wellnessoptions." With this program, Nebraska became one of the first states to offer an integrated wellness program that is tied to health insurance plan coverage.

Four years later, the State of Nebraska is leading the nation with its wellness program efforts to manage health and control health care costs. Our program has earned several prestigious national awards, and serves as a strong example for others to follow.

In October, 2012, the State of Nebraska became the first state wellness program to earn the coveted C. Everett Koop National Health Award, which includes stringent requirements for demonstrating health improvements and cost savings. C. Everett Koop award applications are independently reviewed and rigorously scored by some of the nation's leading experts and researchers in the area of health management. Reviewers place the most scoring emphasis on program evaluation and results.

Specifically, medical and pharmacy costs have demonstrated the wellness program yielded a $4.2 million in reduced medical and pharmacy claims spending when comparing wellness program participant's health cost experience to non-wellness participants. For every $1.00 spent on the wellness program, $2.70 is returned in health care savings based on an independent review of claims data.

Recently, the State of Nebraska "wellnessoptions" program was awarded the Gold Well Workplace Award for the second time, presented by the Wellness Council of America for its efforts and outcomes. The State of Nebraska is the only state to win this award multiple times in 2010 and 2012. The State of Nebraska was also previously awarded the 2011 Innovations Award from The Council of State Governments.

We continue to see improved lifestyles in the areas of increased physical activity, greater consumption of fruits/vegetables, tobacco cessation, improved stress management and increased completion of preventive screenings. Over 700 cases of cancer have been detected in an early stage as a result of an increase in preventive screening efforts, which greatly affect the quality of life of these individuals if these conditions were not caught.

Each year, we recognize wellness participants, Agencies and Wellness Champions for going above and beyond in promoting a healthy lifestyle during the Annual Governor's Wellness Award Banquet. Wellness participants with significant lifestyle improvements are honored each year. Additionally, to over 150 Wellness Champions from several different agencies and across the state help promote and support a culture of wellness at their work locations.

The Wellness Champion Award winners were Mike Scanlan from the Department of Health and Human Services, Carly Salak from Nebraska Game & Parks, and Bill Hetzler from the Department of Labor. The Wellness Champion award recipients are selected for their involvement, actions and efforts that contribute toward achieving wellness goals, promote and support wellness in their work areas and lifestyles, and demonstrate a positive attitude that inspires and motivates others.

The Walk This Way program is our most popular wellness program. The total number of steps logged by all participants the first year of the Walk This Way program equated to over 2 million miles, or roughly 82 times around the earth's circumference. This year, the total distance logged by participants is 104 times around earth's circumference.

Approximately 2,000 state workers and their spouses logged at least 1 million steps; 750 people reached 2 million steps; 350 logged more than 3 million steps; 200 people logged 4 million or more steps; 100 reached 5 million or more steps; 15 have logged more than 6 million steps and 10 have logged 7 million. Aaron Kurtzhals from the Department of Corrections was the top achiever for the second year in a row with over 10 million steps logged.

Our message for Nebraska businesses, schools, families, and individuals is that wellness works every time. Prevention and wellness efforts lead to healthier employees, increased productivity, better employee satisfaction and lower future health care costs.