By Ray Birch
TAMPA, Fla.—At GTE Financial, employees now face a lot of healthy choices every day. They pass vending machines filled with good-for-you snacks, birthday celebrations have fruit and not just cake, and staff are encouraged to visit the doctor—in fact, they’re paid for doing it.
These are just some of the major healthy lifestyle changes underway at GTE, which one year ago shifted from being fully insured for its staff’s healthcare through an insurance provider to self-insurance. The move in the first year saved the credit union significantly on healthcare costs, even with the expense for paying for catastrophic coverage as a backstop, explained Jasiel Legon, SVP and chief talent officer.
“We just had our full-year run of self-insurance and it was really positive,” said Legon. “We have experienced a savings of $200,000, but there is really a lot more savings than that.”
GTE is investing in the health of its staff, which are younger than most credit unions. Legon said that 70% of GTE’s new hires now are Millennials. With the move to hire younger employees, the credit union has revamped its internal staff rewards program to emphasize healthy living.
“The newest thing we have developed is our wellness time-off program,” said Legon. “This is on top of the paid time off we give staff. Our employee engagement studies showed us that Millennials like work/life balance. So we instituted a generous paid time-off program. All full-time new hires receive four weeks of paid time off. That is very generous.”
No Time For Doctor Visits
The credit union also learned from its staff survey that Millennials feel they don’t have time to visit the doctor, and they don’t want to use their paid time off for a medical visit.
GTE took two steps to address that issue. The $1.9-billion CU rolled out its wellness time-off program and is now paying staff for up to four hours for any wellness activity employees need to take time off for.
“That can be a dental visit, anything preventive like a cleaning; a doctor’s physical, a mammogram, anything preventive,” said Legon. “We told our staff that we heard that their paid time off is valuable to them and so we are giving them time for preventive care.”
Legon said that the credit union understands the value of preventive care, and is hoping to help employees avoid the some of the “silent killers” that can go undetected—like high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes—which can lead to a great deal of medical complications later in life.
GTE is also offering staff a “Teladoc” program, a service the credit union pays for that allows staff to talk with a doctor for only a $10 co-pay. Employees can either video chat or simply speak with the doctor over the phone for any type of medical concern.
Jasiel Legon
“If you have a day-to-day cough, the flu, or your child is sick, for example, you can consult with a physician that is part of the Teladoc program,” said Legon. “The doctor can order a prescription, it’s a full consultation. Then, they will forward the results of the consultation to the employee’s primary care physician, who can follow-up if necessary. This is a great program that our employees are taking full advantage of. They like it, too, because Teladoc covers the entire household.”
Teladoc Saves Big
Legon said the credit union determined that the Teladoc program last year saved GTE $175,000 due to the doctor calls costing less than a traditional doctor’s visit.
“And those savings don’t even include what would have been lost productivity due to the employee having to be away from work to visit the doctor,” added Legon.
GTE encourages healthy habits by reimbursing employees $30 monthly for any type of wellness activity, such as a yoga class or weight watchers—on top of a gym membership the CU covers as well.
Much of what GTE is doing, said Legon, is encouraging behavior change among its 500 employees by supporting healthier lifestyles and urging workers to stay on top of their healthcare.
“We have replaced many traditional vending machines with machines that offer healthy choices,” said Legon. “We still have birthday celebrations with cake, but we will also have fruit. Same thing for food at meetings; we have healthy alternatives.”
Legon emphasized that it’s a slow cultural change that the credit union feels in the long run will lead to lower healthcare costs for employees and GTE Financial, as well as a more engaged workforce.
“The healthier you are the more engaged you are at work. Studies prove that,” said Legon, who added that the next step of the program is to offer employees rebates on their health insurance premiums when they engage in preventive care, such as an annual physical. “We are really putting effort and dollars behind what we are saying, which is what makes for an effective wellness program. We are not just talking the talk. We are doing something about it.”