Benefits Agency

Wellness going well in a mid-sized market

Historic agency builds a thriving benefits practice anchored by wellness

By Len Strazewski

Don't waste time searching the hallways for a little "wellness" cubicle in the office of Ollis & Company Risk and Benefit Advisers in Springfield, Missouri. A commitment to wellness and healthful lifestyles pervades the entire agency, and nearly all employees are advocates of practical ways to reduce cost and improve productivity.

And most also are participants in the firm's own award-winning wellness activities, based in the agency's new Ollis Center office expansion.

Wellness and health management services are an important component of the agency's employee benefits and risk management services, explains Richard Ollis, president and chief executive officer. Steadily rising health care costs have raised new levels of awareness among employers as they search for ways to reduce, or at least contain, their costs.

Health care reform has made the problems increasingly complex, he says, but he is confident that the agency will find a way to provide services that have not been legislated. These services include wellness and health management programs.

"If we can reduce risk and help our clients hold down costs, despite all of the anticipated changes that are coming as part of health reform, there will be a place for us in the marketplace," he says.

One of the most important risk reduction tools the agency can provide, he says, is wellness education and health management programs that address the underlying costs of care.

Ollis & Co. was founded in 1885 by brothers R.A., Alfred, and Charles Ollis to provide insurance coverage for families, businesses, and farms in the Springfield area. In 1974, the agency became employee-owned but retained family leadership in the executive office.

In 2002, Richard Ollis became the fourth generation to serve as president. In the past three to four years, employee benefits have been a growing portion of the agency's business, contributing about 35% of revenues. The agency has about 35 employees, including seven in employee benefits services.

Richard says the agency has also made an increased investment in benefits-related services, hiring experts in wellness, human resource management and legal and regulatory compliance issues in the past three years to provide the resources and expertise employers have come to need.

Michael Greenlee is one of three employee benefits advisers who serve as producers and employee benefits consultants. Greenlee says, "Employers are fed up with out of control costs and want to start taking control" of the risk factors that drive those costs.

Most of the Ollis agency's employee benefit clients are large enough, with 50 or more employees, to receive regular claims analysis from their health plans. This data reveals their cost drivers, which most often include illnesses that are related to lifestyle, the pharmacy costs that result from those illnesses and catastrophic claims that become the worst outcomes of those illnesses.

The data has turned Greenlee into a wellness advocate, he says. While the agency guides its clients through the relative merits of plan design changes, including consumer-directed health plans, full or partial self-funding and increased copayments, most strategic proposals also include a wellness and health management component.

"One of the most important things we can do is help educate employers and employees about what contributes to their quality of life," Michael says. "I have to believe that people do not want to be overweight, addicted to smoking, or engaged in unhealthy lifestyles. We can have a role in changing behavior, defeating illness and improving lives."

Michael and his colleagues help clients develop a benefits strategy that reflects the employer's goals and objectives. Then Ollis account managers focus on implementation, from the marketing of insured health plans to day-to-day employee benefits program problem solving.

Account manager Amy Francis who joined Ollis in 2008, is the "inside" component of Michael's account team. Amy says that despite a national health plan market malaise, Missouri and Arkansas health plans have become more competitive in 2010.

"This has been the strangest market I have ever seen," she notes. "Carriers who have never been competitive suddenly are." And while most employers around the country are still seeing double digit premium increases, some Ollis clients have posted double-digit reductions, as the health plans recognize improvements in claims trends.

"A lot has to do with mergers and acquisitions, carriers leaving and entering the market and perceiving opportunities for improving their market share," Amy says. "If we can get some competitive attention from our carriers, we can have a positive impact on costs and services."

Health plans active in the Springfield region include Cox Health Plans, Anthem Blue Cross/BlueShield of Missouri, Mercy Health Plans, Coventry Health and United Health.

Account managers also play "a concierge role with clients and their employees," Amy says, resolving administrative and claims problems and serving as the employers' and employees' advocate with health plans and network providers.

Employee benefits administration has become an increasing problem for employers who have overworked and overbooked human resource executives and financial managers, she notes. As a result, the agency must step in to manage open enrollment activities, employee benefits communication and wellness programs for employers.

Employers have become increasingly interested in wellness programs, she notes, but they often need the firm's assistance in developing, implementing and administering health and wellness programs. A recent Ollis & Co. educational seminar for clients and prospects drew 200 employer participants interested in learning about health education issues, wellness programs and the potential for health cost reductions.

"Many of our clients have implemented some form of wellness programs, and most have gotten buy-in from senior management," she says. However, the administrative details are often left to the agency's account management teams and expert wellness director, she says.

Cameron Black, the firm's wellness director since 2009, helps design affordable wellness programs for clients. Ollis & Company's wellness programs are based on a long-term strategy to reduce employers' Total Cost of Wellness™ and increase productivity through improvements in workforce health.

The Total Cost of Wellness concept takes employers through discovery of its data trends and organizational needs, design of health risk reduction programs, implementation of employee programs and evaluation of outcomes and return on investments.

"Every program is undertaken specifically to meet the needs and objectives of our clients who are interested in seeing results in both their costs and the overall productivity of their employees," Cameron says.

While the agency can create custom programs for clients, Cameron has also developed two off-the-shelf wellness packages that can introduce wellness concepts to employers and their workers and then later launch more inclusive health activities.

The "Awareness Package" is designed to provide wellness education to employees and help employers explore concepts and ideas that could evolve into more sophisticated custom programs. The agency charges employers an annual flat fee of $500 for monthly newsletters and quarterly "lunch and learn" presentations that introduce "wellness" as a broad concept that includes health issues, relationships and financial management.

Cameron explains that the "Awareness Package" also creates opportunities for the agency to consult with employers, and assist them in creating wellness committees of executives and employees who could lead in the creation of employer-specific programs.

The "Champion Package" is for employers who are "getting serious" about wellness, he says. The agency charges an annual flat fee of $1,500 to conduct a wellness assessment of client facilities and develop wellness activities including incentive programs to encourage healthful lifestyles.

Cameron notes that employers and their wellness committees can take some simple steps to make their worksites more healthful: filtered water, fresh fruit and other healthful snacks, fitness centers or gym discounts.

The programs' goals are "education, education, education," Cameron says, to set the stage for health risk assessments, biometric testing and medical and treatment interventions that directly attack health risk factors.

The agency takes its wellness advice seriously with its own employees, he notes, and uses its comprehensive internal program as an example of employers' can-do. "If you are going to talk the talk, you need to walk the walk," Cameron says, and Ollis & Co. sets its own high standards for wellness activities.

Last April, Ollis was recognized as a Platinum-Level Start! Fit-Friendly Company by the American Heart Association's Start! Recognition program for helping employees eat better and move more.

"We're committed to providing the best workplace environment possible. This will benefit our employees' health and produce even more positive results for our company overall," Richard Ollis says.

Platinum-level employers are recognized for several workplace and employee commitments to:

• Offer employees physical activity options in the workplace

• Increase healthful eating options at the worksite

• Promote a wellness culture in the workplace

• Implement at least nine criteria outlined by the American Heart Association in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and culture

• Demonstrate measurable outcomes related to workplace wellness

Last November, the agency accelerated its commitment to wellness and health management with an expansion of its headquarters office. The new Ollis Center is a state-of-the-art facility that supports employee health, safety and compliance for their clients and employees.

The new addition houses a fitness and yoga studio, training facility, locker room and an office suite for health and safety staff. Professional instruction and training are also available in the new facility.

As a result, Cameron Black notes that the agency has about 90% participation in its program, a fine way to promote the health concepts to clients.