Corporate Wellness Magazine Blog

The Employer Healthcare Congress will be sponsoring up to 200 employers to attend the upcoming Congress on September 20th-22nd, 2010. The Employer Healthcare Congress, www.employerhealthcarecongress.com, will feature 4 individual conferences that will be happening at the same time - the Corporate Wellness Conference, the Voluntary Benefits Conference, the Self Funding Employer Healthcare & Workers Compensation Conference and the Expatriate and Travel Insurance Conference. The Employer Healthcare Congress is expecting up to 2,000 attendees, up to 120 exhibitors, up to 75 expert speakers and up to 5,000 private one-on-one networking meetings. The Congress will be highlighting the benefits of having these specific health plans for employers while also driving four times the amount of traffic for exhibitors by having a shared exhibit hall for all of the conferences.

The Employer Healthcare Congress will be providing advanced educational sessions while highlighting the opportunity to network with other leaders in the industry. With the Congress’ new networking software, before the conference starts attendees will be able to select who they want to meet with and set up a pre-scheduled time to meet with the other attendee in the conference’s networking rooms.   By taking advantage of the networking software, attendees will be able to accomplish in two days what would normally take years to accomplish.  The Employer Healthcare Congress should be the largest employer healthcare conference in the country.

The Employer Healthcare Congress is sponsored by the Corporate Wellness Magazine, the Voluntary Benefits Magazine and the Self Funding Magazine. For more information email me at anna@employerhealthcarecongress.com.

Issue #7 of the Corporate Wellness Magazine has been released, http://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com.  This is the only magazine dedicated strictly to employee health, wellness, prevention and disease management.

Read the 7th issue of the monthly magazine dedicated exclusively to Corporate Wellness, Health, Wellness and Prevention at http://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com.
 
The magazine’s writers are insurance companies, employers and corporate wellness companies who are involved in the industry and therefore bring more of an evidenced based approach to the magazine’s content and articles.  Its articles are written by those who are actually implementing and involved in corporate wellness.

Corporate Wellness Magazine is also the official sponsor of the annual Corporate Wellness Conference, http://www.corporatewellnessconference.com, which just took place October 27-28th, 2009 in Los Angeles, CA.  The dates for 2010 are September 20th-22nd, also in Los Angeles.  It is the only national corporate wellness conference to take place in the U.S.  The Corporate Wellness Conference is aimed at employers, insurance companies and health insurance agents who have either implemented corporate wellness plans or are interested in implementing corporate wellness plans.

Michelle Obama’s plan to launch a child obesity initiative in our nation’s school systems could help better the health for our next generation. Through her efforts, President Obama signed a memorandum today that will hopefully help counteract the high numbers of children that are obese in our country today. Her actions will most likely increase the amount of money designated for lunches and activity programs in our children’s schools. The thought process is most likely that more money towards lunch and physical activities means they can afford to spend more on healthier foods and activity programs, thus resulting in less obesity for children in our schools. It’s a great way to start building healthy habits in the inner city and rural areas that might not have had the capacity to do so without this initiative.

Jonathan Edelheit, Editor-in-Chief of the Corporate Wellness Magazine and Anna Konger, Assistant Editor of the Corporate Wellness Magazine (ME!) just came back from the Health and Human Capital Congress in Washington, D.C., which is really the only other corporate wellness type of conference in the country.  There were some really good presentations from employers, wellness providers and experts.  There seemed to be some rumoring by several people who believed that Healthcare Reform is completely and totally dead and will not just not be delayed, but won’t be resurrected at all.

One common theme of many of the employers presentations is that every employer is different and a wellness program must be designed specifically for a particular employer.  There is not one size fits all in wellness, the wellness program has to be customized for the culture of that employer.  Another important take away from the conference is the devout belief from employers that wellness absolutely works and provides a Return on Investment (ROI).  Unfortunately, it looks like the economic recession has really hit employers hard.  There were not many employers at the conference and one attendee who had been there for years, (this was my first time), said that for employers who came the conference was a, “shadow of its former self.”  I think employers traveling to conferences will change as the economy recovers and employers start providing budgets for travel for educational conferences.  Also, be very aware that governmental wellness programs will be hit very hard and there will be severe budget cuts once the stimulus money wears out in 2011 and 2012.  Governmental entities have artificially been able to continue with larger budgets due to the Fed Stimulus Package, but those monies will be running out soon.  We shall see how this affects government wellness programs in cities, counties, states and at the federal level.

Reserve your booth space now for the 2nd Annual Corporate Wellness Conference taking place in LA from September 20th-22nd, 2010. For more information on sponsorship packages and prices please email me at anna@corporatewellnessconference.com or visit www.corporatewellnessconference.com and download the 2010 Sponsorship Brochure! See you in LA!

Anna

Corporate Wellness Magazine has just joined Twitter! Follow us at @CorpWellMag (http://twitter.com/CorpWellMag) to receive the latest updates on all things corporate wellness for our upcoming Corporate Wellness Conference in September and updates to the magazine! Let me know what you think!

Anna

The Senate Healthcare Reform Bill has created tremendous controversy because under current law employers can discount premiums up to 20% for healthy employees.  The Senate Healthcare Reform bill will increase that percentage to 30%.  The Senate Healthcare Reform also lets cabinet officials increase it to as high as 50%!   Not only does this apply for employer groups, but the Senate Bill would also create a 10 state pilot project to test incentives who have individual health insurance not through an employer.

“This means that individuals can be penalized for their genetic make-up or other factors they cannot readily control,” said Sue Nelson, a vice-president at the American Heart Association. 

What are your thoughts?

Anna Konger

Corporate Health and Wellness Association, Assistant Editor of Corporate Wellness Magazine

www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com

Issue #6 of the Corporate Wellness Magazine has been released on http://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com.  This is the only magazine dedicated strictly to employee health, wellness, prevention and disease management.

Read the 6^th issue of the monthly magazine dedicated exclusively to Corporate Wellness, Health, Wellness and Prevention at http://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com.

The magazine’s writers are insurance companies, employers and corporate wellness companies who are involved in the industry and therefore bring more of an evidenced based approach to the magazine’s content and articles.  Its articles are written by those who are actually implementing and involved in corporate wellness.

Corporate Wellness Magazine is also the official sponsor of the annual Corporate Wellness Conference, http://www.corporatewellnessconference.com, which just took place October 27-28th, 2009 in Los Angeles, CA.  The dates for 2010 are September 20^th-22^nd, also in Los Angeles.  It is the only national corporate wellness conference to take place in the U.S.  The Corporate Wellness Conference is aimed at employers, insurance companies and health insurance agents who have either implemented corporate wellness plans or are interested in implementing corporate wellness plans.

The first annual national employer Corporate Wellness Conference in Los Angeles, October 27-28^th, was a huge success and showcased great attendance in its first year with over 300 attendees, 50 speakers and 20 exhibitors and sponsors.  According to www.corporatewellnessconference.com the conference had amazing speakers from both the private and public sectors and featured attendees from employers, insurance companies, health insurance agencies, consulting firms, the US government and corporate wellness companies.

Susan Hannegan, Health Management Program Manager for Jack in the Box and the Conference Chairwoman said that, “The Corporate Wellness Conference was a great opportunity to bring people with a common goal together for thought provoking dialog and to share innovative approaches to improving employee health.  Partnerships and alliances were made that will further our mission of wellness for all.  We all walked away with a stronger sense that corporate wellness is achievable.”  Susan moderated sessions on the second day of the conference and heard firsthand what all speakers presented on.

The panel sessions highlighted the many discussion points surrounding wellness in its current state.  Topics ranged from ‘Health and Wellness 101’ to ‘How to Incorporate a Total Health Management Program.’  Many representatives from the private and public sectors were present to share their wealth of information on how they think the state of our nation’s healthcare can be improved and how they have been working to get there.

“The Corporate Health and Wellness Conference provided a great networking opportunity to meet with other corporations who are facing many of the same challenges we are.  The sessions were very informative providing information, best practices and resources which we can utilize,” said Kerry Cowart, Corporate Regional Dietician for Compass Group, USA. 

Elysa Jacobs, Manager, Health Improvement Programs for Pitney Bowes stated that, “The Corporate Wellness Conference was a great opportunity for me to network and benchmark with professionals in private corporation, government and with potential vendors.”

The 2^nd annual National Corporate Wellness Conference will take place September 20^th-22^nd, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles, California and is expected to have up to 600 attendees and up to 50 exhibitors and sponsors.

The Corporate Wellness Conference is the official conference of the Corporate Wellness Magazine and the Health and Wellness Association.  The Corporate Wellness Magazine, www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com, was created as the main source of information employers, consultants and health insurance agents can learn about corporate wellness and to provide a central point of communication for an emerging multi-billion dollar industry that is extremely underserved and does not get the attention it deserves. Hundreds of companies provide either insurance products or vendor services and solutions in this corporate wellness industry and yet there is not a single dedicated magazine or conference for this industry. Even to this day, employers and agents do not know where to look for quality corporate wellness providers, vendors who provide unique solutions or where to find the best corporate wellness plans. 

The Corporate Health and Wellness Association, www.healthandwellnessassociation.com, is the first national non-profit association focused on health, wellness, prevention and disease management for employers, employees and their families. Their goal is to promote health and wellness in the workplace and to foster an atmosphere of education and engagement with health and wellness programs in the workplace.

The Corporate Wellness Conference would like to announce Anthem Blue Cross as a Diamond Sponsor of the 1^st Corporate Wellness Conference on October 27^th and 28^th, 2009. 

Anthem Blue Cross* provides over 8.3 million California members with health benefits and wellness services.  They are a part of the nation’s leading health benefits company serving the needs of approximately 35 million medical members nationwide. 

• They are focused on improving the health of their communities, delivering better care to members and providing greater value to their customers.
• Their 360^o Health programs improve member health through a range of care management and wellness initiatives and information.
• Their local presence and national expertise create collaborative programs that reward physicians and hospitals for clinical quality and excellence.
• They deliver what customers want: innovative, choice-based products; distinctive service; simplified transactions; effective member engagement and better access to information for quality care.
• They provide a full range of benefits and services to customers, including health, wellness, pharmacy benefit management, life and disability insurance benefits, dental, vision and behavioral health to provide a total benefit solution.
• For more information about Anthem Blue Cross visit www.anthem.com/ca.

* Anthem Blue Cross is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Association.

The Corporate Wellness Conference, http://www.corporatewellnessconference.com, takes place October 27th and 28th, 2009 in Los Angeles, California and will feature up to 400 high level executives in the corporate wellness area, over 20 sponsors, and over 50 expert speakers.   The conference will feature key speakers from Pepsi, Intel, Jack in the Box, Intuit Inc., Caterpillar Inc., Centers for Disease Control, the USDA, the National Institutes of Health and many more employers, and government officials.  This will be the first employer focused corporate wellness conference that features private one-on-one networking meetings.  Attendees will be able to pre-schedule private one-on-one networking meetings.  The Corporate Wellness Conference is the first conference focused on employers and is the official conference of Corporate Wellness Magazine, http://www.corporatewellnessmagazine.com, and the Health and Wellness Association, http://www.healthandwellnessassociation.com.