An ounce of prevention
An ounce of prevention
Wellness programs that help employees avoid serious medical problems enable casinos to reduce costs of healthcare benefits
By James J. Hodl
Like other U.S. businesses, casinos have been hit hard by the rising cost of providing a healthcare benefit to their employees. So to rein in these costs, which have been climbing at slightly more than twice the rate of inflation during the past 10 years, casinos are pursuing a radical solution.
They are working to keep their employees healthy.
"It's very simple," said Jeff Hartmann, chief operating officer at the Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino in Uncasville, Conn. "Employees who stay healthy make fewer claims under our healthcare program, thus enabling us to secure lower premiums from our healthcare provider. So we focus on trying to prevent serious medical problems by promoting wellness among employees."
Like most other casinos, Mohegan Sun provides employees with comprehensive healthcare coverage that can be expanded to include all members of an employee's family. Most of the cost is paid by the casino, with employees making a small-percentage contribution.
But Mohegan Sun also budgets an additional $65,000 annually to promote wellness.
On-site programs
The on-premises Wellness Center at Mohegan Sun, staffed by medical professionals from a local partner hospital, provides basic medical services like blood pressure tests and cholesterol screenings. Established in 2001, the center also provides advice on how to quit smoking, how to establish healthy eating habits and how to lose excess weight. Disease management programs are available to help employees control chronic ailments like diabetes.
With many employees sitting before computer terminals or table games all day, Mohegan Sun promoted healthful exercise by building a 1,500-square-foot gymnasium on casino grounds. Open 24 hours, the gym is stocked with exercise equipment that employees can use before and after shifts, for a minimal $15 a month membership fee, Hartmann said.
As an additional convenience to employees that also helps hold down healthcare costs, Mohegan Sun has an on-premises pharmacy to fill prescriptions.
The Pechanga Casino & Resort in Temecula, Calif., is also turning to a wellness program to control healthcare costs.
"Pechanga provides its 5,000 employees an extensive healthcare benefit that includes medical, dental and vision coverage," said Rod Luck, vice president of human resources. "All employees are covered after 90 days of employment, and we make it available at cost to those with us for less time. And we allow employees to customize their coverage and add family members.
"So we do everything we can to keep our costs low. We constantly shop all health insurance providers to get the best price. Just last year, to reduce costs, we switched insurance firms," he added.
To tame costs even further, Pechanga has installed nurses on its property to provide health education to employees. Besides conducting seminars on how to stay healthy, the nurses provide, on an appointment basis, personal advice on subjects ranging from losing weight to managing stress.
Pechanga recently broke ground for an on-property employee-only gymnasium to house a stair stepper, a treadmill and other exercise machines.
Another program has consultants thoroughly examining the working environment throughout Pechanga to spot and eliminate unhealthful practices. Emphasis is placed on ergonomics to eliminate stress/motion problems that can cause hand, arm, back and leg pain that can reduce productivity through sick days and result in doctor visits.
Clinical treatment
By far the most extensive wellness effort of any gaming business is offered to employees of Harrah's Entertainment.
"Harrah's is setting up primary care clinics to provide our employees with high-quality, basic healthcare services that are both convenient and affordable," said Juliet Vestal, director of healthcare programs.
Such clinics are already in operation to serve Harrah's employees in Atlantic City, Lake Tahoe, Southern Mississippi and New Orleans, and another is in the works for Las Vegas. Located within the walls of Harrah's casinos, these clinics have separate exterior entrances so employees can bring their children without having to walk through the casino itself, Vestal noted.
The Harrah's clinics are operated by Whole Health Management, a healthcare firm partnered with the casino chain. Each clinic is staffed by Whole Health with a medical director, physicians and nurses to provide services ranging from medical checkups to blood tests, eye exams and chronic care for diseases. The clinics also provide inoculations against diseases like flu or (for children) polio and measles.
"We believe that if basic medical services are where employees can easily visit them, they will take advantage of them more often. And an employee who has regular checkups will get sick less often, as medical problems can be spotted while still minor and easy to treat, well before it might result in a visit to the emergency room," Vestal said.
Since the first clinic was opened to serve the four Harrah's properties in Atlantic City, it has been serving between 20 and 30 patients a day.
Attached to the four Harrah's medical clinics are pharmacies where employees can get prescriptions filled immediately. And the price is very right. Brand name medicines like Lipitor can be purchased for cost, while generic medications are free to employees.
In practicing preventive medicine on premises, Harrah's can also limit medical problems that are the biggest cause of absenteeism, said Jeff Shovlin, vice president of employee benefits.
"Obesity is becoming the nation's biggest health problem, contributing to diseases like diabetes and causing heart attacks," Shovlin said. "Employees using the primary care clinics diagnosed as obese can be directed into other on-premises services. We have dieticians that recommend weight-loss programs and diet meal plans tailored to the employee's specific problems and metabolism. And we have fitness centers where personal trainers are available to recommend and conduct girth-reducing exercise programs."
Negotiating better benefits
At its Nevada properties, Harrah's provides an extensive healthcare benefit to all unionized employees, and about 85 percent of non-unionized employees. In the latter group, employees pay a percentage of their premiums, which is based on overall salary. Those earning larger salaries pay a greater percentage of insurance costs than lower paid workers.
Through much of Nevada, most unionized casino employees receive healthcare benefits under a labor agreement with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, or HERE (known in Las Vegas as the Culinary Union Local 226). The plan-known as the Culinary Health Fund-is fully paid by casinos and entitles workers to use any of 1,800 doctors and all hospitals, and covers many medicines. Workers can bring other family members under coverage.
"This is the second largest health plan in the country, based on the number of enrollees, who work at casinos owned by Harrah's, Boyd Gaming, MGM Mirage, among others," boasted D. Taylor, secretary/treasurer of the Culinary Union Local 226.
But Taylor noted that any healthcare plan works best when costs are controlled. And the best way to accomplish that is for all parties involved to negotiate costs.
A board of trustees consisting of union and casino representatives constantly reviews the plan to determine what can be done to maximize benefits, but at a cost that casinos can afford. The most recent examples of cost containment have involved negotiating costs of services from doctors and hospitals, and providing generic drugs where ever available.
Wellness programs that help employees avoid serious medical problems enable casinos to reduce costs of healthcare benefits
By James J. Hodl
Like other U.S. businesses, casinos have been hit hard by the rising cost of providing a healthcare benefit to their employees. So to rein in these costs, which have been climbing at slightly more than twice the rate of inflation during the past 10 years, casinos are pursuing a radical solution.
They are working to keep their employees healthy.
"It's very simple," said Jeff Hartmann, chief operating officer at the Mohegan Sun Resort & Casino in Uncasville, Conn. "Employees who stay healthy make fewer claims under our healthcare program, thus enabling us to secure lower premiums from our healthcare provider. So we focus on trying to prevent serious medical problems by promoting wellness among employees."
Like most other casinos, Mohegan Sun provides employees with comprehensive healthcare coverage that can be expanded to include all members of an employee's family. Most of the cost is paid by the casino, with employees making a small-percentage contribution.
But Mohegan Sun also budgets an additional $65,000 annually to promote wellness.
On-site programs
The on-premises Wellness Center at Mohegan Sun, staffed by medical professionals from a local partner hospital, provides basic medical services like blood pressure tests and cholesterol screenings. Established in 2001, the center also provides advice on how to quit smoking, how to establish healthy eating habits and how to lose excess weight. Disease management programs are available to help employees control chronic ailments like diabetes.
With many employees sitting before computer terminals or table games all day, Mohegan Sun promoted healthful exercise by building a 1,500-square-foot gymnasium on casino grounds. Open 24 hours, the gym is stocked with exercise equipment that employees can use before and after shifts, for a minimal $15 a month membership fee, Hartmann said.
As an additional convenience to employees that also helps hold down healthcare costs, Mohegan Sun has an on-premises pharmacy to fill prescriptions.
The Pechanga Casino & Resort in Temecula, Calif., is also turning to a wellness program to control healthcare costs.
"Pechanga provides its 5,000 employees an extensive healthcare benefit that includes medical, dental and vision coverage," said Rod Luck, vice president of human resources. "All employees are covered after 90 days of employment, and we make it available at cost to those with us for less time. And we allow employees to customize their coverage and add family members.
"So we do everything we can to keep our costs low. We constantly shop all health insurance providers to get the best price. Just last year, to reduce costs, we switched insurance firms," he added.
To tame costs even further, Pechanga has installed nurses on its property to provide health education to employees. Besides conducting seminars on how to stay healthy, the nurses provide, on an appointment basis, personal advice on subjects ranging from losing weight to managing stress.
Pechanga recently broke ground for an on-property employee-only gymnasium to house a stair stepper, a treadmill and other exercise machines.
Another program has consultants thoroughly examining the working environment throughout Pechanga to spot and eliminate unhealthful practices. Emphasis is placed on ergonomics to eliminate stress/motion problems that can cause hand, arm, back and leg pain that can reduce productivity through sick days and result in doctor visits.
Clinical treatment
By far the most extensive wellness effort of any gaming business is offered to employees of Harrah's Entertainment.
"Harrah's is setting up primary care clinics to provide our employees with high-quality, basic healthcare services that are both convenient and affordable," said Juliet Vestal, director of healthcare programs.
Such clinics are already in operation to serve Harrah's employees in Atlantic City, Lake Tahoe, Southern Mississippi and New Orleans, and another is in the works for Las Vegas. Located within the walls of Harrah's casinos, these clinics have separate exterior entrances so employees can bring their children without having to walk through the casino itself, Vestal noted.
The Harrah's clinics are operated by Whole Health Management, a healthcare firm partnered with the casino chain. Each clinic is staffed by Whole Health with a medical director, physicians and nurses to provide services ranging from medical checkups to blood tests, eye exams and chronic care for diseases. The clinics also provide inoculations against diseases like flu or (for children) polio and measles.
"We believe that if basic medical services are where employees can easily visit them, they will take advantage of them more often. And an employee who has regular checkups will get sick less often, as medical problems can be spotted while still minor and easy to treat, well before it might result in a visit to the emergency room," Vestal said.
Since the first clinic was opened to serve the four Harrah's properties in Atlantic City, it has been serving between 20 and 30 patients a day.
Attached to the four Harrah's medical clinics are pharmacies where employees can get prescriptions filled immediately. And the price is very right. Brand name medicines like Lipitor can be purchased for cost, while generic medications are free to employees.
In practicing preventive medicine on premises, Harrah's can also limit medical problems that are the biggest cause of absenteeism, said Jeff Shovlin, vice president of employee benefits.
"Obesity is becoming the nation's biggest health problem, contributing to diseases like diabetes and causing heart attacks," Shovlin said. "Employees using the primary care clinics diagnosed as obese can be directed into other on-premises services. We have dieticians that recommend weight-loss programs and diet meal plans tailored to the employee's specific problems and metabolism. And we have fitness centers where personal trainers are available to recommend and conduct girth-reducing exercise programs."
Negotiating better benefits
At its Nevada properties, Harrah's provides an extensive healthcare benefit to all unionized employees, and about 85 percent of non-unionized employees. In the latter group, employees pay a percentage of their premiums, which is based on overall salary. Those earning larger salaries pay a greater percentage of insurance costs than lower paid workers.
Through much of Nevada, most unionized casino employees receive healthcare benefits under a labor agreement with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, or HERE (known in Las Vegas as the Culinary Union Local 226). The plan-known as the Culinary Health Fund-is fully paid by casinos and entitles workers to use any of 1,800 doctors and all hospitals, and covers many medicines. Workers can bring other family members under coverage.
"This is the second largest health plan in the country, based on the number of enrollees, who work at casinos owned by Harrah's, Boyd Gaming, MGM Mirage, among others," boasted D. Taylor, secretary/treasurer of the Culinary Union Local 226.
But Taylor noted that any healthcare plan works best when costs are controlled. And the best way to accomplish that is for all parties involved to negotiate costs.
A board of trustees consisting of union and casino representatives constantly reviews the plan to determine what can be done to maximize benefits, but at a cost that casinos can afford. The most recent examples of cost containment have involved negotiating costs of services from doctors and hospitals, and providing generic drugs where ever available.
