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Wellness Articles

Employee Health Benefits

Looking to improve employee health benefits? Our industry-leading corporate healthcare advisors can help! Request a FREE worksite wellness proposal today.

Employee Health Benefits


Employee health benefits established or maintained by an employer or employer organization can be a huge stimulus for employee morale and longevity for employees staying at your company. In the United States, the majority of private sector employee health plans and benefits are covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is responsible for enforcing the provisions of ERISA.

For the public sector, all 50 states in the provide health insurance coverage for their state employees. While this perk has proved to be a major driving force for attracting talented workers, it has drawn the attention of lawmakers and legislatures throughout the United States as rising commercial insurance premiums are impacting state budgets. According to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College (www.slge.org), state and local employee health plans cover about 10 percent of the total U.S. workforce and hold more than 20 percent of the nation’s total pension assets.

In addition to providing employee health benefits, many states are now adding a premium surcharge for smokers. States are currently applying this smoking charge, including West Virginia, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, and South Carolina. In addition to the surcharge for smokers, some states have created smoking cessation programs, inspired by positive incentives and goals to help employees improve their health by quitting smoking. These states include Alabama, Idaho, North Carolina, and North Dakota.

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are offered to state employees to reduce health care expenditure. States that currently have Health Savings Accounts in place include Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.

The United States Department of Labor has created a checklist for wellness programs, which assures that they fit within specified legal boundaries. These wellness programs must be nondiscriminatory and follow HIPAA as well as government guidelines. States that currently have wellness programs include Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Virginia, Washington, and West Virginia.

Kersh Risk management offers wellness programs that are an adjunct to public and private sector employee health benefits. If you are interested in adding Biometric Testing (Health Screening), Health Risk Appraisals (Health Risk Assessments / HRAs), Health Stations (Health Kiosks), or other program interventions to your employee health benefits plan, please fill out our online request free wellness program proposal form today.

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