Employers, insurers and other wellness organizations have a clearer sense of what lies before them now that the presidential election is decided.
Despite some efforts to question the constitutionality, most organizations,
states and individuals are moving forward with health care reform's implementation and wrestling with its implications.
The most recently released regulations concern wellness programs, and cover incentive and program design, particularly as it relates to
"health-contingent wellness programs." This type of program, also known as "outcomes-based wellness," delivers incentives to participants upon
attainment of specific health goals. The new regulations allow for richer incentives (up from 20% to 30%, possibly 50% for tobacco cessation) and
offer more guidance regarding the use of the incentives, including language employers must use to ensure employees understand their options if
achieving the goals are medically unadvisable.
The regulations take effect on or after January 1, 2014, depending on your plan. I've gathered a number of resources to help you get schooled.
PPACA Rules on Wellness Programs Could Push Participation: "For employers, the proposed rules increase from 20% to 30% the maximum permissible reward for the cost of health coverage, and increase the maximum reward to up to 50% for tobacco cessation programs."
Guidance on Outcomes-Based Wellness: This 30-minute CoHealth Checkup radio program delves into the joint consensus statement (above) with our guests and authors of the statement: the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, HERO and other organizations.
A post reviewing the Pew Mobile Health 2012 report, "phones are the ATM of health for smartphone owners," was November's top post. This report updates Pew's last report on the topic, issued in 2010. Since then, the number of people using their phones to access health information has soared, climbing from 17% to 31% among all cell phone users and to 52% of all smartphone owners. Certain groups also depend more on their phones as a health care channel. Caregivers and those recently experiencing a significant health change, such as weight loss, are more likely to turn to their phones, as are the young, Latino, African-American and the college-educated.
If you're interested in this topic, listen to our CoHealth Checkup radio program with Susannah Fox, the lead author of this report. She joined us for this month's 30-minute show to discuss how we use technology and online community to achieve better health.
context's health app, Hotseat, was one of 14 health games selected to join the Games for Health Pavilion at the 2012 Mobile Health Summit. MobiHealthNews reviewed the state of games for health, the trouble with gamification, and Hotseat and other games in their article on the Summit.
Hotseat is an enterprise tool designed to combat "sitting disease," a health risk associated with obesity, diabetes, kidney disease and cancer. Hotseat uses nudges, social accountability and game play to turn short breaks into meaningful activity. Learn more.
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