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USAA Wins C. Everett Koop National Health Award; USAA's Comprehensive Employee Wellness Program is Only Award Recipient This Year

Posted on: Wednesday, 20 September 2006, 09:01 CDT

USAA has won the 2006 C. Everett Koop National Health Award, one of the most prestigious national awards for health and wellness programs. The award, which was announced during the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) Forum for Employee Health Management Solutions conference in Chicago, recognizes USAA's comprehensive "Take Care(R) of your Health" employee wellness program. USAA is the only award recipient named this year.

Introduced in 2003, USAA's "Take Care" program is designed to make wellness part of USAA's culture by creating an environment that promotes healthy living for the company's 22,000 employees and their families. USAA's program includes more than 20 wellness initiatives and activities, ranging from on-site fitness centers and healthy food choices in cafeterias to annual health risk assessments and integrated disability management. More than two-thirds of employees have participated in a USAA wellness-related program or activity, and about half of all employees have taken either an on-site or online health risk assessment.

"The Koop award recognizes USAA's comprehensive, integrated approach to wellness," said Peter Wald, M.D., M.P.H., assistant vice president for wellness at USAA. "Equally important is that our employees are taking advantage of the many wellness benefits and activities that USAA offers."

Additional USAA wellness program features available to most employees include:

-- Healthy take-home meals available at employee cafeterias.

-- Nutritional counseling provided by third-party experts.

-- Recreational opportunities, from soccer and softball teams to

tennis leagues and employee bicycling and running clubs.

-- Healthy snacks and wellness accessories, such as pedometers,

exercise DVDs, and healthy eating cookbooks in USAA company

stores.

"We want to build and support a wellness culture at USAA by providing something for everyone and making it easy for everyone to be healthy," said Dr. Wald.

In order to monitor the program's effectiveness, USAA uses a customized data warehouse to capture general workforce information, including demographics, health and disability plan costs, participation rates, and the success of program recommendations.

"Our sophisticated data warehouse helps us monitor the overall health of our employee population and the impact of our programs," said Dr. Wald. "We watch what's happening very closely so that we can make adjustments that ultimately will improve the health of our employees and their families."

Dr. Wald noted that the program is seeing positive results. The employee population has experienced statistically significant decreases in weight, smoking, and other health risk factors. Data also shows statistically significant increases in worksite productivity.

"Investing in wellness produces healthy employees who can feel better at home and who can better serve our members while at work," said Dr. Wald. "It's definitely a win for everyone." Key Elements of USAA's Wellness Program -- Financial incentives: Up to $350 per year to help with wellness-related expenses, including smoking cessation assistance, certain weight management programs, external fitness center memberships, and the purchase of certain fitness equipment. -- On-site fitness centers: Minimal membership costs, and a 50% rebate for employees who visit at least twice a week. -- Healthy dining: Healthy menu items in cafeterias, and nutritional labeling on all prepared food items. -- Free risk assessments: Annual on-site screenings for cholesterol, blood pressure, triglycerides, glucose, and body mass index, plus online risk assessment tools.

About USAA

USAA, a diversified financial services company, is the leading provider of competitively priced insurance, investments, and banking products to members of the U.S. military and their families. The company's 5 million members around the world rely on the convenience and accessibility of USAA's financial products. For more information, visit usaa.com.

USAA is an equal opportunity employer. Our employment practices are in accord with the laws that prohibit discrimination due to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected status.

About the Award

Since 1994, the C. Everett Koop Award has recognized worksite, community and provider programs that demonstrate success in promoting better health among individuals while reducing medical costs. The award is named for the former U.S. Surgeon General, who serves as current chairman of the award's sponsor, The Health Project, a non-profit, private-public consortium dedicated to those goals. Past recipients of the Koop Award include Motorola, Citibank, Union Pacific, Caterpillar, Daimler-Chrysler, CIGNA, Texas Instruments, and Johnson & Johnson.

Source: Business Wire

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