By MUST Region 2 Marketing & Sales Representative – DeAnna Anderson
The MUST health insurance and benefits platform improves all the time. Part of those improvements is keeping up with trending wellness programs and knowing what kinds of programs to stay away from that few ever seem to participate in
From a group perspective at the administrative level, the incorporation of wellness programs and the concept behind making them available is to have a positive reflection on a group’s claims utilization over time. When a group’s plan participants take an active interest in their health and make healthy lifestyle choices, that is often reflected in their plan utilization and in-turn, renewal rates as well.
From a plan participant perspective, what tends to make a wellness program effective is when there is a variety of options and resources where one can go. I’m not just saying this because I work here, and they literally pay me to say this. I’m saying this because in January I weighed 186lbs, I had high blood pressure and thyroid issues. I had brain fog and just didn’t feel very well overall. In April, I decided to try a few things that were available to me as a MUST plan member.
The first thing I did was schedule a full preventive exam with my primary care provider. This didn’t cost me a dime and provided me with an excellent baseline of information about my health. Then, I took the BCBS Well On Target health risk assessment. I did this after my preventive exam, because the HRA required information that can typically only be acquired through an exam with a medical provider. I created individual goals for myself. I’m not typically someone that likes to be nagged to do things, so being reminded 20 times a day to log my food and drink more water got to be quite annoying, so I quit that program and tried something else. Omada.
Omada is an application-based wellness program that comes with a smart scale to help track weight loss. I took an online questionnaire to figure out if I was even eligible first. My BMI and prescription drug utilization made me eligible for this program, so I enrolled. It took about a week for my smart scale to arrive. I received weekly lessons about different health related matters, and it only took a few minutes to read each one. The lessons provide education on how to make better choices in the grocery store and things like how to make healthier choices even when eating out at restaurants. I still participate in this program. It offers optional tools, so I can pick which parts work best for my individual goals. That’s important to me.
I share parts of this wellness journey with you, not just as someone who gets paid to brag about how wonderful the MUST wellness tools are or how much they will improve your life, but also as someone who has tried these programs. If I’m supposed to help you be healthier, I had better know what I’m talking about. I’m certainly not done achieving my health goals, but I can with the right tools. If I can do it, I know you can too.