Please read each passage below and respond to each part. I DO NOT need a reference or title page, however please provide the reference(s) underneath the passage. Please label as I have done below, example Part 1 and place your response along with the reference. Please keep each one on the same document! Please cite properly and use correct grammar. DUE Tomorrow by 6PM CST 5/30/22
Part 1
A preexisting health condition is an illness or injury for which medical advice, diagnosis, care, or treatment was received during a designated period preceding the beginning of medical coverage, this is prior to employment at a company (Martocchio, 2017). One option patients would have with a preexisting health condition regarding wellness initiative compliance would be providing them the option to adhere to a more positive well-being by automatically enrolling them in an incentive program to adhere to their care plan to maintain their health and build a healthier lifestyle and habits (Nosta, 2014). To mitigate future visits that are caused by negligence or because healthcare cannot be afforded, provide a rewards system that allows patients to frequently visit their doctors as a preventative measure to assist in a healthy journey. This will allow for more individuals to qualify for healthcare coverage which in return, can help them maintain their health and well-being that can be ultimately utilized in their day-to-day activities and work. Knowing they do not have to stress about their health issues can help them create a more positive and motivating lifestyle. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, supports pre-existing conditions by not allowing insurers to deny or cancel coverage for someone with a preexisting health condition, and even cannot charge someone more for having that condition (Nordquist, 2016). This ACT helps benefit so many people who want to work but may not be accepted because of their preexisting health condition. This gives them a fair chance, just like someone who does not have a preexisting condition. The incentive program can help hold them accountable towards recovery and better wellness, while then from an organizational perspective receiving the best version of the individual to help reach organizational goals and strategies.
I do believe the new health plans truly help consumers to live a better and healthier lifestyle. To be honest, if it were not for my boss always on top of me and encouraging a healthy lifestyle and healthier habits, I would not bother going for my routine checkups. My workplace provides in house flu shots, a restaurant within the building that only makes healthier food options with free fruit and water to all, gym membership and gym equipment reimbursement, they have a gym within our building free for employees with personal trainers to help promote well-being, they provide meditation classes, and they have a health and well-being group that focuses on creating a plan for employees to focus on mental and physical health. On top of these healthy incentives to drive engagement, they encourage mental health days, allow you to leave work for flu or covid-19 shots with pay, and have doctors and physicians present to us on what to look for in our health and what we can do to promote better well-being once a month. They are truly helping and what happens is, when we feel great, it shows in the workplace. These incentives can help cut costs for organizations who provide health coverage for their workers by taking these preventative measures in ensuring everyone is staying on top of their health.
References
Martocchio, J.J. (2017). Strategic compensation: A human resource management approach (9th ed.). Pearson.
Nordquist, C. (2016, September 5). The Affordable Care Act: Healthcare reform in the U.S. Medical News Today.
Nosta, J. (2014, April 9). Be healthy and get rewarded–incentives driving engagement in health and wellness (Links to an external site.) (Links to an external site.). Forbes.
Part 2
Health incentives can help reduce pre-existing health problems by providing preventive measures. One example is when the employee knows they have blood pressure problems but do not go to the doctor because they cannot afford it or do not trust the medical community. Eventually, his hypertension turns into a heart issue that most insurance companies see as a pre-existing issue and will not cover heart doctor visits or medication. However, if the individual were rewarded for going to the doctor for regular check-ups, his high blood pressure would have been discovered, and the heart disease may have been prevented. The incentive was the driver that encouraged the employee to get an annual check-up. Incentives reward behaviors that reduce cost and improve health (Nosta, 2014). Incentives can also help people get over their mistrust of doctors, which is more important the reward more than the distrust. Does the mistrust benefit the individual like the reward? Because employees are already familiar with incentive programs, using health incentives is not a significant jump; therefore, they use something they understand to make themselves healthy. Incentives are a good way to link health devices such as Fitbit to healthier behaviors avoiding overweight issues such as diabetes. Some incentive programs can link up to Fitbit to encourage the person to move around more and keep track of better eating habits. Taking a preventive step can help stop a major health problem, which in turn reduces pre-existing issues.
I believe that the high deductibles are keeping low and middle-income people from receiving the proper care they need and can lead to some adults skipping or delaying seeking services, especially dental and vision, and their medication. Most adults find it hard to afford other household expenses such as rent or mortgage, gasoline, monthly utilities, or groceries. Companies are starting to offer personal health accounts, either health savings accounts or health reimbursement arrangements. Health savings accounts are tax-free accounts used to pay for qualified medical expenses, and they must be paired with high deductible health plans. Health reimbursement arrangements are employer-funded accounts used to reimburse employees for their qualified medical expenses; these accounts do not need to be combined with high deductible health plans. Despite these health spending accounts, people still change their health care behavior and forgo needed care to save money (Agarwal, 2017).
Nosta, J. (2014, April 9). Be healthy and get rewarded-incentives driving engagement in health and wellness. Forbes. http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnnosta/2014/04/09/be-healthy-and-get-rewarded-incentives-driving-engagement-in-health-and-wellness/
Agarwal, R., Mazurenko, O. & Menachemi, N. (2017, October). High-deductible health plans reduce health care costs and utilization, including the use of needed preventive services. Health Affairs, 36(10). https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0610
