2017 MyHealth Survey Results

NRECA’s wellness partner, WebMD, has released the 2017 MyHealth Survey results. This survey was taken by approximately 4,500 participants in the NRECA Medical Plan, providing valuable insight on our population’s health, including the prevalence of preventable risk factors. Understanding these results will help you design a results-oriented wellness program that can improve the health and well-being of your employees while reducing your cooperative’s medical costs.

On average, NRECA co-ops pay $980 in excess medical cost per person per year as a result of modifiable risk factors, such as stress, physical inactivity and high blood pressure. These risk factors also contribute to an increase in absenteeism and presenteeism (loss of productivity) that costs co-ops an additional $2,095 per person per year.

High weight and Body Mass Index (BMI) continue to be NRECA’s most prevalent modifiable risk factors, affecting 74% of our population, increasing slightly since last year. Our prevalence of high weight and BMI is over 4% higher than WebMD’s book of business.

Poor nutrition and lack of exercise are also an issue within our population. While we’ve improved 3% since last year, 70% of our population eat fewer fruits and vegetables and consume more sugary drinks and unhealthy food options, compared to 60% of WebMD’s book of business.

In good news, the risk prevalence of sleep issues, emotional health issues, blood pressure issues, alcohol use and cigarette use have decreased slightly since last year and are all below WebMD’s book of business. Keep up the good work!

As you focus on developing results-oriented wellness programs in an effort to improve the overall health and wellbeing of your co-op, remember that the NRECA Medical Plan has a variety of resources that can help you and your employees better manage their health and reduce their risk.

All co-ops and members participating in the NRECA Medical Plan have access to the following resources:

• MyHealth Manager: Participants can take the MyHealth Survey and use tools and resources to learn more about their health
• MyHealth Coaches: Participants can work directly with a health coach to manage health conditions or learn more about lifestyle changes like weight loss or tobacco cessation
• Life Strategy Counseling: Participants can work with mental health counselors for support with personal challenges
• eatSMART and moveSMART: Toolkits to help you provide health education at your co-op
• Wellness Discounts: Participants can save on Anytime Fitness, Diet-to-Go, Jazzercise or Jenny Craig— and your co-op is eligible for discounts on Fitbit trackers and scales

Plus co-ops participating in the Rewards for Life program have three challenges this year focused on nutrition and exercise, including Rewards for Steps, Operation H2O, and the Invitational Steps Challenge.

View the full MyHealth Survey report to learn even more about NRECA’s results, as well as view the seven recommendations made by WebMD to improve the overall health and wellbeing of plan participants.

If you have additional questions about the report, our programs or would like support for your wellness program, please contact the wellness team at wellnessprogram@nreca.coop or 703.907.6237.