Published on Nov 3, 2014

www.EANJ.org

Livingston, NJ– The Employers Association of New Jersey (EANJ) introduced on Tuesday, October 14, a new voluntary program for its membership designed to maintain a healthy workplace. The program promotes the Qualcare Tools to Maintain a Healthy Workplace. In 2012, Rutgers University and the EANJ were partners in a new statewide program to develop an online toolkit employers can use to build a healthier workplace, with activities ranging from mid-day walking clubs to more nutritious snacks in the vending machines. Casting New Jersey as a “healthy workplace state”, the program won Healthcare Hero honors from NJBiz in 2013.

“Still, with annual health care costs and premiums hovering around $10,000 per employee and increasing, it’s more important than ever for employers to encourage a workplace culture of wellness. Doing so can help employers reduce health care costs and result in increased employee productivity and satisfaction,” says John Sarno, president of EANJ.

The next step is incorporating wellness and disease management into healthcare plans, says Sarno.

On Oct. 14, Sarno convened an information session in Edison where Dr. Christopher Valerian, chief medical officer of QualCare, explained the program to employers.

“This voluntary program is designed to ensure that covered employees remain healthy, productive and happy,” says Sarno. “Working with a nurse case manager, participating employees will receive information and advice on their healthcare needs, preventative care and lifestyle choices – all within a confidential relationship.”

Sarno said employers won’t have to pay extra fees to participate in the disease management program.

EANJ’s health plan – Affiliated Physician & Employers Health Plan – covers hundreds of New Jersey small employers and is launching an initiative to encourage those employers to engage their workers in wellness and disease management programs, specifically ones that are successfully improving health and reducing unnecessary health care spending. This a self-insured healthcare trust that provides the same type of plan doctors and other healthcare providers purchase. The plan, managed by employers for employers, eventually helped give New Jersey companies a menu of more affordable, fully-ACA compliant health care plans that other options on the ACA healthcare exchange may not offer.

Presently, EANJ is the only nonprofit trade association in N.J. providing employers access to this plan with 13 different options. Currently, more than 1,250 N.J. employers, from nearly every NJ County gets their healthcare from APEHP and the rate growth is about 70 new employer enrollments per month.

Since 2006, QualCare has offered wellness and disease management programs within its entire family of health plans, which serves approximately 180,000 members.
EANJ wants to encourage more small employers to take advantage of QualCare’s wellness and disease management programs, which help individuals with chronic diseases – such as diabetes, heart failure and hypertension — to better manage their ailments.

Contact
www.EANJ.org