Health promotion programs are a long-term investment. But how long should you wait for results?

Finance and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) want hard numbers to show return on investment (ROI).  And wellness ROI is tougher to calculate than, say, a 401(k).

18-month guideline

Recent studies have established some benchmark data on wellness ROI you are able to use as a guideline. It’s useful whether you already have a health promotion program or are thinking about beginning one.

It usually takes at least 18 months from the launch of a health promotion program to see any causes your health care plan bottom line.

For many firms, 18 months is the point at which workers’ improving health begins to cancel out the cost of sponsoring and administering the health promotion program.

By and large, the long-term cost savings from a health promotion program will be driven by how much you’re willing to spend. Ordinarily, businesses get what they pay for – both in time and money invested.

As a rule of thumb, the typical cost to the employer is about $3 to $5 per participating worker per month. Within three years of launch, you should be seeing significant savings.

The typical ROI tends to be about $4 to $5 saved for every dollar spent. So how can you manage the costs in the short-term in order to achieve the long-term savings?  and how can you maximize the long-term payoff?

Consider making health promotion programs budget-neutral

For many companys, the most effective way to manage the cost of a health promotion program in the start-up phase is to make it a budget-neutral expense.

In other words, the program neither adds to your healthcare costs at the outset, nor decreases them. Example –  You plan to roll out a health promotion program effective Jan. 1. the program will cost the business $5 per worker.

You can roll the $5 per month cost directly into the employee’s monthly share of their healthcare premium. In this age of continuous cost-shifting, most staff members are used to seeing small increases in their monthly contributions each plan year.

Just be certain you’re not hitting folks with a large hike on top of that $5. Comparably designed health promotion programs pay off about the same – meaning workers buy in and participate at the same rate – whether they’re budget neutral or the employer absorbs the cost.

But when workers get clobbered by large-scale contribution hikes at the outset, they often resist the health promotion program. the long-term ROI for these programs is often disappointing.

If you’re faced with a situation where achieving a budget-neutral program would trigger push-back, your firm is better off absorbing most or all of the wellness costs.

The largest hurdle is to get over the hump for those first 18 months or so.