Independent Banker - February 2020 - 23

according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The nonprofit's 2018 survey of
employer health benefits found that
37% of small firms and 62% of large
firms offering health benefits give
employees an opportunity to complete
a health-risk assessment.
Wellness programs can be a way
to attract the best and brightest,
many of whom are looking for innovative
employee benefits beyond the
traditional medical and retirement
offerings. In addition, under the
Affordable Care Act, financial incentives
exist for companies that offer
workplace wellness programs. And
with healthcare costs rising sharply,
a number of community banks are
beefing up wellness programs to rein
in costs.
Abby Stoa, financial controller and
HR administrator for $172 million-asset
Farmers State Bank of Hartland
in Albert Lea, Minn., says the fitness
incentive that her bank offers employees
was not intended as a recruiting
tool but as an effort to encourage
employees to stay active. " We offer
health insurance, " she says, " and so,
in a roundabout way, it's good for the
bank for employees to be healthy. "
The case for wellness programs
Jim Miller, vice president and director
of human resources at $1.8 billion-asset
Bank of Ann Arbor in Ann Arbor,
Mich., assumed responsibility for his
bank's wellness program seven years
ago. " Our thinking was somewhat
self-serving, " he says. " We wondered:
How can we mitigate the rise in healthcare
costs by having our employees
make better choices in terms of their
own health and well-being? "
The answer was a comprehensive
wellness program with everything
from screenings to lunch-and-learn
events, contests and an ambitious
workout partnership to help employees
exercise.
" We wondered: How can we mitigate the
rise in healthcare costs by having our
employees make better choices in terms
of their own health and well-being? "
-Jim Miller, Bank of Ann Arbor
Because the Bank of Ann Arbor has
a self-insured medical benefit plan,
Miller views healthcare costs on a
weekly basis. Although he acknowledges
that he cannot prove cause and
effect, he notes that within three of the
past four years, Bank of Ann Arbor has
seen double-digit declines in healthcare
spending.
Amy Ritsema, co-owner of OnSite
Wellness in Grand Rapids, Mich.,
works with Bank of Ann Arbor. She
has seen studies claiming a threeto-one
ROI for investments made
in workplace wellness, though she
remains skeptical. Given that healthcare
costs continue to rise, a more
attainable goal, she suggests, would be
to decrease claims to the point where
costs are flatlined.
Ritsema notes that wellness
programs are " not an overnight
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Independent Banker - February 2020

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